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🇷🇴 Romania /Health & Science

The doctor who turned Amara mud into the famous Pell Amar medicine

From Adevărul · () Romanian

Translated from Romanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Romanian doctor Ştefan Ionescu-Călineşti developed concentrated extracts from Amara’s sapropelic mud and used them to create Pell Amar medicines and cosmetics.
  • He began the research after his wife developed scleroderma, saying an extract helped heal the affected area on her hand.
  • Pell Amar later entered mass treatment in Romania and abroad, including through a clinic established at Bucharest’s Parc Hotel.

When his wife, Mihaela Theodossiu, developed scleroderma in one hand, doctor Ştefan Ionescu-Călineşti began searching for a treatment in the mud of Amara. He had previously used the mud to treat skin conditions, but did not yet know what it contained.

In a 1987 interview with România pitorească, he recalled carrying out intensive research day and night in an improvised laboratory. He said he produced a concentrated mud extract and applied it to his wife’s affected skin. After a month, he said, it had healed.

I had successfully treated many skin conditions with this mud, but I did not know what it contained. After intense research carried out day and night in improvised laboratory conditions, I managed to obtain a concentrated extract from the mud, which I applied to the area of my wife’s hand affected by the disease. After a month, it had healed.

· Ştefan Ionescu-CălineştiThe doctor described how his wife’s scleroderma led him to investigate Amara mud and develop a concentrated extract.

The experience turned the dispensary doctor into a dedicated researcher. Over years of work, Ionescu-Călineşti said he identified enzymes, vitamins, minerals, nutrients and other complex natural compounds in the mud. He extracted an essence from its peloid, which became the raw material for Pell Amar medicines and cosmetics. The name combined “pelloid” with Amara, the resort where he began his work as a balneologist and researcher.

I became ‘ill’ with a passion for research.

· Ştefan Ionescu-CălineştiHe used the phrase to describe how treating his wife led him to continue studying the mud for years.

He rejected the idea that Pell Amar represented a medical miracle. Instead, he described it as a natural medicine whose active substances acted regeneratively on the human body. The product line appeared in several forms, including ampoules, tablets, shampoo, gel, ointment and toothpaste. He particularly emphasized its use for rheumatic and skin diseases, including for older people unable to undergo mud therapy or sun treatments.

Pell Amar soon entered mass treatment for Romanians and foreign patients. In Bucharest, the Pell-Amar Clinic opened at the Parc Hotel, where thousands of people reportedly received treatment each year. The supplied account ends while describing the clinic’s reach.

It was a natural medicine with exceptional effectiveness in a large number of diseases.

· Ştefan Ionescu-CălineştiHe explained that he viewed Pell Amar as a natural treatment rather than a medical miracle.
About this summary

Originally published by Adevărul in Romanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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