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A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a
health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different types of therapy. Not all therapies are effective. Many therapies can produce unwanted adverse effects. ''Treatment'' and ''therapy'' are often synonymous, especially in the usage of
health professional A health professional, healthcare professional (HCP), or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated as HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a Nursing, nur ...
s. However, in the context of
mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...
, the term ''therapy'' may refer specifically to
psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
.


Semantic field

The words ''care'', ''therapy'', ''treatment'', and ''intervention'' overlap in a
semantic field In linguistics, a semantic field is a related set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.Howard Jackson, Etienne Zé Amvela, ''Words, Meaning, and Vocabulary'', Continuum, 2000, p14. The term is also used in ...
, and thus they can be synonymous depending on context. Moving rightward through that order, the connotative level of holism decreases and the level of specificity (to concrete instances) increases. Thus, in health-care contexts (where its senses are always noncount), the word ''care'' tends to imply a broad idea of everything done to protect or improve someone's health (for example, as in the terms ''preventive care'' and ''
primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...
'', which connote ongoing action), although it sometimes implies a narrower idea (for example, in the simplest cases of wound care or postanesthesia care, a few particular steps are sufficient, and the patient's interaction with the provider of such care is soon finished). In contrast, the word ''intervention'' tends to be specific and concrete, and thus the word is often
countable In mathematics, a Set (mathematics), set is countable if either it is finite set, finite or it can be made in one to one correspondence with the set of natural numbers. Equivalently, a set is ''countable'' if there exists an injective function fro ...
; for example, one instance of cardiac catheterization is one intervention performed, and coronary care (noncount) can require a series of interventions (count). At the extreme, the piling on of such countable interventions amounts to interventionism, a flawed model of care lacking holistic circumspection—merely treating discrete problems (in billable increments) rather than maintaining health. ''Therapy'' and ''treatment'', in the middle of the semantic field, can connote either the holism of ''care'' or the discreteness of ''intervention'', with context conveying the intent in each use. Accordingly, they can be used in both noncount and count senses (for example, ''therapy for
chronic kidney disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of long-term kidney disease, defined by the sustained presence of abnormal kidney function and/or abnormal kidney structure. To meet criteria for CKD, the abnormalities must be present for at least three mo ...
can involve several dialysis treatments per week''). The words '' aceology'' and ' are obscure and obsolete synonyms referring to the study of therapies. The English word ''therapy'' comes via Latin ''therapīa'' from and literally means "curing" or "healing". The term ' is a somewhat archaic doublet of the word ''therapy''.


Types of therapies

Therapy as a treatment for physical or mental condition is based on knowledge usually from one of three separate fields (or a combination of them): conventional medicine (allopathic, Western biomedicine, relying on scientific approach and evidence-based practice), traditional medicine (age-old cultural practices), and alternative medicine (healthcare procedures "not readily integrated into the dominant healthcare model").


By chronology, priority, or intensity


Levels of care

Levels of care classify
health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
into categories of chronology, priority, or intensity, as follows: * Urgent care handles health issues that need to be handled today but are not necessarily emergencies; the urgent care venue can send a patient to the emergency care level if it turns out to be needed. ** In the United States (and possibly various other countries), urgent care centers also serve another function as their other main purpose: U.S.
primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...
practices have evolved in recent decades into a configuration whereby urgent care centers provide portions of primary care that cannot wait a month, because getting an appointment with the primary care practitioner is often subject to a waitlist of 2 to 8 weeks. * Emergency care handles medical emergencies and is a first point of contact or intake for less serious problems, which can be referred to other levels of care as appropriate. This therapy is often given to patients before a definitive diagnosis is made. * Intensive care, also called critical care, is care for extremely ill or injured patients. It thus requires high resource intensity, knowledge, and skill, as well as quick
decision making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either ra ...
. *
Ambulatory care Ambulatory care or outpatient care is Health care, medical care provided on an outpatient basis, including diagnosis, observation, consultation, treatment, intervention, and rehabilitation services. This care can include advanced medical technolog ...
is care provided on an outpatient basis. Typically patients can walk into and out of the clinic under their own power (hence "ambulatory"), usually on the same day. This care type also involves surgery which, according to recent research, offers "generally superior 30-day outcomes relative to inpatient-based care". *
Home care Homecare (home care, in-home care, care at home), also known as domiciliary care, personal care, community care, or social care, is health care or supportive care provided in the individual home where the patient or client is living, generally focu ...
is care at home, including care from providers (such as physicians, nurses, and home health aides) making house calls, care from caregivers such as family members, and patient self-care. *
Primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...
is meant to be the main kind of care in general, and ideally a medical home that unifies care across referred providers. The current trend in this area is digitalization aiming to ensure open access to information about therapy, issues, and recent progress on biomedical research. * Secondary care is care provided by medical specialists and other health professionals who generally do not have first contact with patients, for example, cardiologists, urologists and
dermatologists Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...
. A patient reaches secondary care as a next step from
primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...
, typically by provider referral although sometimes by patient self-initiative. According to a systematic review, fields for development secondary care from patients' viewpoint may be classified into four domains that should usefully guide future improvement of this care stage: "barriers to care, communication, coordination, and relationships and personal value". * Tertiary care is specialized consultative care, usually for inpatients and on referral from a primary or secondary health professional, in a facility that has personnel and facilities for advanced medical investigation and treatment, such as a tertiary referral hospital. * Follow-up care is additional care during or after convalescence. Aftercare is generally synonymous with follow-up care. One of the key areas of development–Telehealth, including non-clinical services: provider training, administrative meetings, and continuing medical education–offers opportunities to improve access to care, increase provider and patient productivity through reduced travel, potential expenses savings, and the ability to expand services. * End-of-life care is care near the end of one's life. It often includes the following: ** Palliative care is supportive care, most especially (but not necessarily) near the end of life. ** Hospice care is palliative care very near the end of life when
cure A cure is a substance or procedure that resolves a medical condition. This may include a medication, a surgery, surgical operation, a lifestyle change, or even a philosophical shift that alleviates a person's suffering or achieves a state of heali ...
is very unlikely. Its main goal is comfort, both physical and mental. A systematic meta review showed that the most cost-efficient one relates to home-based end-of-life care, including reduced overall "resource use and improved patient and carer outcomes".


Lines of therapy

Treatment decisions often follow formal or informal
algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
ic guidelines. Treatment options can often be ranked or prioritized into lines of therapy: first-line therapy, second-line therapy, third-line therapy, and so on. First-line therapy (sometimes referred to as induction therapy, primary therapy, or front-line therapy) is the first therapy that will be tried. Its priority over other options is usually either: (1) formally recommended on the basis of
clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...
evidence for its best-available combination of efficacy, safety, and tolerability or (2) chosen based on the clinical experience of the physician. If a first-line therapy either fails to resolve the issue or produces intolerable
side effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects. A drug or procedure usually use ...
s, additional (second-line) therapies may be substituted or added to the treatment regimen, followed by third-line therapies, and so on. An example of a context in which the formalization of treatment algorithms and the ranking of lines of therapy is very extensive is chemotherapy regimens. Because of the great difficulty in successfully treating some forms of cancer, one line after another may be tried. In oncology the count of therapy lines may reach 10 or even 20. Often multiple therapies may be tried simultaneously (
combination therapy In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are ...
or polytherapy). Thus combination chemotherapy is also called polychemotherapy, whereas chemotherapy with one agent at a time is called single-agent therapy or monotherapy. Single-agent therapy is a care algorithm that focuses on one specific drug or procedure. It utilizes a single therapeutic agent rather than combining multiple ones. Multiagent Therapy is a treatment by two or more drugs or procedures. Comprehensive therapy combines various forms of medical treatment to provide the most effective care for patients. Adjuvant therapy is therapy given in addition to the primary, main, or initial treatment, but simultaneously (as opposed to second-line therapy). Neoadjuvant therapy is therapy that is begun before the main therapy. Thus one can consider surgical excision of a tumor as the first-line therapy for a certain type and stage of cancer even though radiotherapy is used before it; the radiotherapy is neoadjuvant (chronologically first but not primary in the sense of the main event). Premedication is conceptually not far from this, but the words are not interchangeable; cytotoxic drugs to put a tumor "on the ropes" before surgery delivers the "knockout punch" are called neoadjuvant chemotherapy, not premedication, whereas things like anesthetics or prophylactic antibiotics before dental surgery are called premedication. Step therapy or stepladder therapy is a specific type of prioritization by lines of therapy. It is controversial in American health care because unlike conventional
decision-making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...
about what constitutes first-line, second-line, and third-line therapy, which in the U.S. reflects safety and efficacy first and cost only according to the patient's wishes, step therapy attempts to mix cost containment by someone other than the patient (third-party payers) into the algorithm. Therapy freedom refers to prescription for use of an unlicensed medicine (without a marketing authorization issued by the licensing authority of the country)Gore RK, Chugh PD, Tripathi C, Lhamo Y, Gautam S. (2017). "Pediatric off-label and unlicensed drug use and its implications". ''Current clinical pharmacology'', 12(1), 18-25. https://doi.org/10.2174/1574884712666170317161935 and the negotiation between
individual and group rights Individual rights, also known as natural rights, are rights held by individuals by virtue of being human. Some theists believe individual rights are bestowed by God. An individual right is a moral claim to freedom of action. Group rights, also k ...
are involved. A comprehensive research in Australia, Czech Republic, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Serbia, Sweden, UK, and USA showed that the rate of the unlicensed medicine prescription has been reported to range from 0.3 to 35% depending on the country. In many jurisdictions, therapy freedom is limited to cases of no treatment existing that is both well-established and more efficacious.


By intent


By intervention

* Invasive therapy is achieved either through surgery or through the use of drugs. Medical invasive treatments can be divided into two main categories: pharmacotherapy and surgery. * Noninvasive therapies are medical treatments that do not involve entry into the body. It can be classified into five main categories: neurotherapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, radiation therapy, and psychotherapy.


By therapy composition

Treatments can be classified according to the method of treatment:


By

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...

* by
drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...
s: pharmacotherapy,
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
(also, ''medical therapy'' often means specifically pharmacotherapy) * by medical devices: implantation ** cardiac resynchronization therapy * by specific
molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...
s: molecular therapy (although most drugs are specific molecules, ''molecular medicine'' refers in particular to medicine relying on
molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...
) ** by specific biomolecular targets: targeted therapy *** molecular chaperone therapy ** by chelation: chelation therapy * by specific
chemical element A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons. The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8: each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its ...
s: ** by
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
s: *** by heavy metals: **** by
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
: chrysotherapy (aurotherapy) **** by
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
-containing drugs: platin therapy *** by biometals **** by
lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...
: lithium therapy **** by
potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...
: potassium supplementation **** by
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...
: magnesium supplementation **** by chromium: chromium supplementation; phonemic neurological hypochromium therapy **** by
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
: copper supplementation ** by nonmetals: *** by diatomic
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
: oxygen therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy ( hyperbaric medicine) **** transdermal continuous oxygen therapy *** by triatomic oxygen (
ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...
): ozone therapy *** by
fluoride Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic, Monatomic ion, monatomic Ion#Anions and cations, anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose ...
: fluoride therapy *** by other gases: medical gas therapy * by
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
: **
hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and ...
** aquatic therapy ** rehydration therapy *** oral rehydration therapy ** water cure (therapy) * by biological materials ( biogenic substances,
biomolecule A biomolecule or biological molecule is loosely defined as a molecule produced by a living organism and essential to one or more typically biological processes. Biomolecules include large macromolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids ...
s, biotic materials, natural products), including their synthetic equivalents: biotherapy ** by whole
organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...
s *** by
virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...
es: virotherapy *** by bacteriophages: phage therapy *** by animal interaction: ''see animal interaction section'' ** by constituents or products of organisms *** by
plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
parts or extracts (but many drugs are derived from plants, even when the term ''phytotherapy'' is not used) **** scientific type: phytotherapy **** traditional (prescientific) type:
herbalism Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...
*** by animal parts: quackery involving shark fins, tiger parts, and so on, often driving threat or endangerment of species *** by
gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
s: gene therapy **** gene therapy for epilepsy **** gene therapy for osteoarthritis **** gene therapy for color blindness **** gene therapy of the human retina **** gene therapy in Parkinson's disease *** by
epigenetics In biology, epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression that happen without changes to the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix ''epi-'' (ἐπι- "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "on top of" or "in ...
: epigenetic therapy *** by
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
s: protein therapy (but many drugs are proteins despite not being called protein therapy) *** by
enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
s: enzyme replacement therapy *** by
hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...
s:
hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are hormonal therap ...
**** hormonal therapy (oncology) **** hormone replacement therapy ***** estrogen replacement therapy ***** androgen replacement therapy *****
hormone replacement therapy (menopause) Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...
***** transgender hormone therapy ****** feminizing hormone therapy ****** masculinizing hormone therapy **** antihormone therapy ***** androgen deprivation therapy *** by whole cells: cell therapy (cytotherapy) **** by stem cells: stem cell therapy **** by immune cells: ''see immune system products below'' *** by
immune system The immune system is a network of biological systems that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to bacteria, as well as Tumor immunology, cancer cells, Parasitic worm, parasitic ...
products: immunotherapy, host modulatory therapy **** by immune cells: ***** T-cell vaccination ***** cell transfer therapy ***** autologous immune enhancement therapy ***** TK cell therapy **** by humoral immune factors: antibody therapy ***** by whole serum: serotherapy, including antiserum therapy ***** by immunoglobulins: immunoglobulin therapy ****** by monoclonal antibodies: monoclonal antibody therapy ** by
urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...
: urine therapy (some scientific forms; many prescientific or pseudoscientific forms) ** by
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
and dietary choices: *** medical nutrition therapy *** grape therapy (quackery) * by salts (but many drugs are the salts of organic acids, even when drug therapy is not called by names reflecting that) ** by salts in the air *** by natural dry salt air: "taking the cure" in
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
locales (especially common in prescientific medicine; for example, one 19th-century way to treat tuberculosis) *** by artificial dry salt air: **** low-humidity forms of speleotherapy **** negative air ionization therapy *** by moist salt air: **** by natural moist salt air: seaside cure (especially common in prescientific medicine) **** by artificial moist salt air: water vapor forms of speleotherapy ** by salts in the water *** by mineral water: spa cure ("taking the waters") (especially common in prescientific medicine) *** by
seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...
: seaside cure (especially common in prescientific medicine) * by aroma: aromatherapy * by other materials with mechanism of action unknown ** by occlusion with duct tape: duct tape occlusion therapy


By

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

* by electric energy as
electric current An electric current is a flow of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is defined as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface. The moving particles are called charge c ...
: electrotherapy,
electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment that causes a generalized seizure by passing electrical current through the brain. ECT is often used as an intervention for mental disorders when other treatments are inadequ ...
** Transcranial magnetic stimulation ** Vagus nerve stimulation * by magnetic energy: ** magnet therapy ** pulsed electromagnetic field therapy ** magnetic resonance therapy * by
electromagnetic radiation In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a self-propagating wave of the electromagnetic field that carries momentum and radiant energy through space. It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency or its inverse, wavelength ...
(EMR): ** by
light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
: light therapy (phototherapy) *** ultraviolet light therapy **** PUVA therapy *** photodynamic therapy **** photothermal therapy **** cytoluminescent therapy *** blood irradiation therapy *** by darkness: dark therapy *** by
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...
s: laser therapy **** low level laser therapy ** by gamma rays: radiosurgery *** Gamma Knife radiosurgery *** stereotactic radiation therapy *** cobalt therapy ** by
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...
generally:
radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...
(radiotherapy) *** intraoperative radiation therapy *** by EMR particles: **** particle therapy ***** proton therapy ***** electron therapy ****** intraoperative electron radiation therapy ****** Auger therapy ***** neutron therapy ****** fast neutron therapy ****** neutron capture therapy of cancer *** by radioisotopes emitting EMR: **** by nuclear medicine **** by brachytherapy ** quackery type: electromagnetic therapy (alternative medicine) * by mechanical: manual therapy as massotherapy and therapy by
exercise Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardio ...
as in
physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...
** inversion therapy * by
sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
: ** by
ultrasound Ultrasound is sound with frequency, frequencies greater than 20 Hertz, kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible hearing range, limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply ...
: *** ultrasonic lithotripsy **** extracorporeal shockwave therapy *** sonodynamic therapy ** by
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
:
music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...
* by
temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...
** by heat: heat therapy (thermotherapy) *** by moderately elevated ambient temperatures: hyperthermia therapy **** by dry warm surroundings: Waon therapy **** by dry or humid warm surroundings: sauna, including infrared sauna, for sweat therapy ** by
cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjectivity, subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute t ...
: *** by extreme cold to specific tissue volumes: cryotherapy *** by ice and compression: cold compression therapy *** by ambient cold: **** hypothermia therapy for neonatal encephalopathy (in newborns) **** targeted temperature management (therapeutic hypothermia, protective hypothermia) ** by hot and cold alternation: contrast bath therapy


By procedure and human interaction

*
Surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
* by counseling, such as
psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
(''see also: list of psychotherapies'') ** systemic therapy ** by group psychotherapy * by cognitive behavioral therapy ** by cognitive therapy ** by behaviour therapy *** by dialectical behavior therapy ** by cognitive emotional behavioral therapy * by cognitive rehabilitation therapy * by family therapy * by
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
** by psychoeducation ** by information therapy * by speech therapy,
physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...
,
occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT), also known as ergotherapy, is a healthcare profession. Ergotherapy is derived from the Greek wiktionary:ergon, ergon which is allied to work, to act and to be active. Occupational therapy is based on the assumption t ...
, vision therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic or acupuncture * by lifestyle modifications, such as avoiding unhealthy food or maintaining a predictable
sleep Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain Sensory nervous system, sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with th ...
schedule * by coaching


By animal interaction

* by pets, assistance animals, or working animals: animal-assisted therapy ** by
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
s: equine therapy, hippotherapy ** by dogs: pet therapy with therapy dogs, including grief therapy dogs ** by cats: pet therapy with therapy cats * by
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
: ichthyotherapy (wading with fish), aquarium therapy (watching fish) * by maggots: maggot therapy * by worms: ** by internal worms: helminthic therapy ** by
leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
es: leech therapy * by immersion: animal bath


By meditation

* by mindfulness: mindfulness-based cognitive therapy


By reading

* by bibliotherapy


By

creativity Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable Idea, ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, Literature, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physica ...

* by expression: expressive therapy ** by
writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
: writing therapy *** journal therapy * by play:
play therapy Play therapy refers to a range of methods of capitalising on children's natural urge to explore and harnessing it to meet and respond to the developmental and later also their mental health needs. It is also used for Anatomically correct doll, ...
* by art: art therapy ** sensory art therapy ** comic book therapy * by gardening: horticultural therapy * by
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
: dance therapy * by
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
: drama therapy * by
recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...
: recreational therapy * by
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
:
music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...


By

sleep Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain Sensory nervous system, sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with th ...
ing and waking

* by deep sleep: deep sleep therapy * by sleep deprivation: wake therapy


See also

* Biophilia hypothesis * Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals * Compassion-focused therapy * Emotionally focused therapy *
Greyhound therapy Greyhound therapy is a pejorative term used in the US health care system since the mid-1960s to refer to mental health authorities' buying a ticket on a Greyhound Lines bus or other coach bus to get rid of possible "troublemaker" patients. Th ...
* Inverse benefit law * List of therapies * Mature minor doctrine *
Medication Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmaco ...
*
Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
* Nutraceutical * Prevention * Psychedelic therapy * Therapeutic inertia * Therapeutic nihilism, the idea that treatment is useless * Treatment as prevention


References


External links

*
"Chapter Nine of the Book of Medicine Dedicated to Mansur, with the Commentary of Sillanus de Nigris"
is a Latin book by Rhazes, from 1483, that is known for its ninth chapter, which is about therapeutics {{Set index article Therapy Drug discovery Health policy Medicinal chemistry Pharmaceutical sciences