Therapy Words: “hagiotherapy” to “ionotherapy”,
Part 2 of 4
Words that include: therap-, -therapeutic[s],
-therapeutically, -therapy, -therapies, -therapist
(Greek: heal, cure; treatment; service done to the sick, a waiting on)
If you would like to take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section, then click
Therapy-Quiz so you can see how much you know about the following
“-therapy” words.
hagiotherapy:
The treatment of the sick by contact with relics of the saints, visits to shrines, and other religious observations.
helioaerotherapy:
The treatment of disease by exposure to sunshine and fresh air.
heliotherapy:
Treatment of disease by exposure to the sun.
hemotherapy, hemotherapeutics, hematherapy:
The treatment of a disease with the administration of blood or blood products, such as blood plasma.
hepatotherapy:
1. Rarely used term for the treatment of disease of the liver or therapeutic use of liver extract or of the raw substance of the liver.
hidrotherapy:
Treatment with induced sweating.
hierotherapy:
Treatment of disease by prayer and religious practices.
hippotherapy:
Horseback riding as physical therapy for people who have cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, polio, mental retardation and other disabilities.
The results of hippotherapy are said to include the normalization of muscle tone, promotion of equilibrium reactions, head and trunk control, and coordination. The multidimensional swinging rhythm of the horse’s walk is transferred to the patient’s pelvis in a manner that duplicates the normal human gait. In hippotherapy, the horse influences the rider instead of the rider controlling the horse. “The movement of the horse is the treatment tool to achieve the goals” of strength, balance and normalizing muscle tone. It is stated that unlike the United States, hippotherapy is a fully recognized form of physical therapy in Europe and covered by health insurance.
The following are excerpts from an article titled, “Therapy at the OK Corral” by Tamar Asedo Sherman; that appeared in the November 6-8, 1998, issue of USA Weekend, page 24.
- Thanks to a horse named Baby, a writer who has lived for 20 years with multiple sclerosis has new mobility and new hope.
- My instructor says riding stimulates my muscles, some of which I never knew I had.
- Riding bareback is the standard approach.
- It lets me feel the horse’s muscles as he walks, stimulating my body to respond with a rhythmic shift from side to side.
- As with any other exercise, my muscles get stronger every week.
- Therapeutic riding is nothing new.
- The ancient Greeks put injured warriors on horseback to improve their health and well-being.
- England did the same for its injured World War I soldiers, and a Danish rider, paralyzed by polio, won a silver dressage medal in the 1952 Olympics.
- Yet the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association wasn’t formed until 1969.
- Now there are more than 500 accredited U.S. [hippotherapeutic] riding centers.
homeotherapy, homeotherapeutics:
Treatment or prevention of a disease using the principles of homeopathy.
Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician disenchanted with the methods of bloodletting, began to develop a theory based on three principles:
The law of similars, the minimum dose, and the single remedy. The word homeopathy is derived from the Greek words for “like” (homoios) and “suffering ”(pathos). With the law of “similars”, Hahnemann theorized that if a large amount of a substance causes certain symptoms in a healthy person, smaller amounts of the same substance can treat those symptoms in someone who is ill.
The basis of his theory took shape after a strong dose of the malaria treatment quinine caused his healthy body to develop symptoms similar to ones caused by the disease. He continued to test his theory on himself as well as family and friends with different herbs, minerals and other substances. He called these experiments “provings”.
Some homeopathic remedies are so dilute, no molecules of the healing substance remain. Even with sophisticated technology now available, analytical chemists may find it difficult or impossible to identify any active ingredient; however, the homeopathic belief is that the substance has left its imprint or a spirit-like essence that stimulates the body to heal itself.
—Based on an article written by Isadora Stehlin,
a member of the The Food and Drug Administration,
an agency of the U. S. government.
hormonotherapy:
Treatment with hormones.
hydrosudotherapy:
Hydrotherapy combined with induced sweating as in a Turkish bath, sauna, etc.; also hidrotherapy.
hydrotherapy, hydrotherapeutics:
Treatment of an illness with water by external application, either for its pressure effect or as a means of applying physical energy to the tissues.
hyperthermotherapy:
The use of abnormally high body temperature, especially that which is induced for therapeutic purposes.
hypnotherapy:
Psychotherapy that involves the use of hypnotism or treatment by inducing a trance-like sleep.
immunotherapy:
Originally, the therapeutic administration of serum containing preformed antibodies produced by another individual; currently it includes nonspecific systemic stimulation, adjuvants, active specific immunotherapy, and adoptive immunotherapy.
iodotherapy:
Treatment of disease with iodine and its compounds.
ionotherapy:
The process of electric current traveling through a salt solution, causing migration of the metal (positive) ion to the negative pole and the radical (negative) ion to the positive pole; or the introduction of various ions into tissues through the skin by means of electricity.
Quiz
You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by just clicking on
Therapy Quiz #1 to check your word knowledge.
You may also take another self-scoring quiz over some other therapy words by clicking on
Therapy Quiz #2.