Therapy Words: “actinotherapy” to “gerontotherapy”,
Part 1 of 4
Words that include: therap-, -therapeutic[s],
-therapeutically, -therapy, -therapies, -therapist
(Greek: heal, cure; treatment; service done to the sick, a waiting on)
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“-therapy” words.
actinotherapy, actinotherapeutics:
1. Treatment of disease by means of light rays.
2. In dermatology, ultraviolet light therapy.
aerohydrotherapy:
An obsolete term for the treatment of disease by applications, at different temperatures and by different methods, of both air and water.
aeropiesotherapy:
Treatment of a disease or an illness with compressed (or rarefied) air.
aerotherapy, aerotherapeutics:
Treatment of disease by fresh air, by air of different degrees of pressure or rarety, or by air medicated in various ways.
alimentotherapy:
Treatment with systematic feeding; dietetic treatment.
alkalitherapy, alkalotherapy:
1. The administration of large amounts of alkali in the treatment of peptic ulcers and hyperchlorhydria.
2. Therapeutic use of alkali for local or systemic effect.
ammotherapy:
Considered an obsolete term for the treatment of an ailment with sand baths.
anatherapeusis:
Treatment by increasing doses.
apiotherapy:
The treatment of an ailment with bee venom.
aromatherapy:
A term used for treatment of illness and maintenance of general physical health using essential oils distilled from such plants as camomile,
camphor, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, and eucalyptus. Such treatments were known in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and other civilizations, while early Arabian physicians developed the distillation of aromatic oils through experiments in alchemy.
The term aromatherapy derives from the writings of the French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, whose book Aromatherpie was published in 1928. Aromatherapy is more than simply a department of herbalism, since it postulates subtle energies of aromatic plants related to life force, which can be correlated with ancient Chinese concepts of Yin and Yang.
arsenotherapy:
Treatment of disease with arsenic.
aurotherapy:
Treatment of disease by the administration of gold salts; also, chrysotherapy.
autoserotherapy:
The treatment of certain conditions, such as dermatoses, by injection of the patient’s own blood serum; also autotherapy.
autotherapy, autotherapist:
1. The spontaneous cure of a disease; self cure.
2. The treatment of a disease with filtrates from a patient’s secretions.
3. Treatment of one’s own infirmity (illness).
bacteriotherapy:
Treatment of disease by introducing bacteria into the system.
balneotherapy, balneotherapeutic:
Medical treatment of a disease with baths or medicinal springs.
bibliotherapist:
One who uses books as a means of treating certain kinds of illnesses.
bibliotherapy, bibliotherapeutics:
The use of reading matter for therapeutic purposes in the treatment of nervous disorders.
bilitherapy:
Treatment with bile or bile salts.
brachytherapy:
Radiotherapy in which the source of irradiation is placed close to the surface of the body or within a body cavity; e.g., application of radium to the cervix.
chemotherapist:
One who specializes in the treatment of ailments with chemical substances.
chemoserotherapy:
An obsolete treatment of disease with a combination of drugs and serum.
chemotherapy, chemotherapeutics:
1. The treatment of disease, especially of parasitic infections or cancer, by means of chemical substances which act selectively on micro-organisms or malignant tissue.
2. Treatment of disease by means of chemical substances or drugs; usually used in reference to neoplastic disease (a new and abnormal formation of tissue; such as, a tumor or other growth). Also known as, pharmacotherapy.
chromotherapy:
Treatment of disease with colored light.
chronotherapy, chronotherapeutics:
1. Treatments of diseases that work in harmony with the body’s natural time rhythms, such as when patients are given drugs at the optimum time in their day cycle of cell growth.
2. Coordinating biological rhythms (chronobiology) with medical treatment includes a person’s biological rhythms in determining the timing and sometimes the amount of medication to optimize a drug’s desired effects and minimize the undesired ones.
chrysotherapy:
Treatment of disease by the administration of gold salts; also, aurotherapy.
climatotherapy:
Treatment of disease by removal of the patient to a region having a climate more favorable for recovery.
crymotherapy:
Treatment of an illness with the use of cold.
cryotherapy:
The use of cold in the treatment of illness.
cyclocryotherapy:
Transscleral freezing of the ciliary body in the treatment of glaucoma.
dermatotherapy:
Treatment of skin diseases.
dipsotherapy:
1. Treatment by strict limitation of the amount of water to be ingested.
2. Treatment of certain diseases by abstention, as far as possible, from liquids.
electrophototherapy:
Phototherapy (light treatment) in which the source of the rays is the electric light.
electrotherapy, electrotherapeutics:
Use of electricity in the treatment of disease.
emanotherapy, emanotherapeutics:
An obsolete treatment of various diseases by means of radium emanation (radon), or other emanation.
embolotherapy:
Occlusion of arteries by insertion of blood clots,Gelfoam, coils, balloons, etc., with an angiographic catheter; used for control of inoperable hemorrhage or preoperative management of highly vascular neoplasms.
endocrinotherapy,:
Treatment of disease by the administration of extracts of endocrine glands.
ergotherapy:
Treatment of disease by muscular exercise or work.
faradotherapy:
Treatment of disease or paralysis by means of faradic (induced) electric current.
ferrotherapy:
The treatment of disease with iron.
galactotherapy:
Treatment of disease by means of an exclusive or nearly exclusive milk diet; also, lactotherapy.
galvanotherapy:
The treatment of disease with the application of direct (galvanic) current.
gerontotherapy:
The treatment of disease in the aged; also, geriartric therapy.
Quiz
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