Therapy
Therapy is the attempted remediation of a health problem.
Therapy is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. The term is often abbreviated Tx and can refer to a wide range of treatments for physical or mental conditions, based on knowledge from conventional medicine, traditional medicine, or alternative medicine.
- field
- Medicine and healthcare
- known_for
- Being a broad term for treatment of health problems, with indications and contraindications, and encompassing many types including psychotherapy
- types
- Conventional, traditional, alternative; levels of care (urgent, emergency, intensive, ambulatory, home, primary, secondary, tertiary, follow-up, end-of-life); lines of therapy (first-line, second-line
Lore & Background
The word therapy comes via Latin therapīa from Ancient Greek θεραπεία, meaning 'curing' or 'healing'. The term therapeusis is a somewhat archaic doublet. Therapy and treatment are often synonymous, especially in health professional usage, though in mental health contexts therapy may refer specifically to psychotherapy. A therapist is a person who offers any modality of therapy, trained to provide services for treatment or rehabilitation.
Reader's Guide
Therapy occupies a middle position in the semantic field of care, treatment, and intervention, connoting either holism or discreteness depending on context. It can be used in both noncount and count senses, such as therapy for chronic kidney disease involving several dialysis treatments per week. Therapies are based on knowledge from conventional medicine (scientific, evidence-based), traditional medicine (age-old cultural practices), or alternative medicine (procedures not readily integrated into the dominant model). Not all therapies are effective, and many can produce unwanted adverse effects. Treatment decisions often follow algorithmic guidelines with lines of therapy: first-line, second-line, third-line, and so on. In oncology, the count of therapy lines may reach 10 or even 20. Combination therapy (polytherapy) uses multiple agents simultaneously, while single-agent therapy uses one. Adjuvant therapy is given in addition to the primary treatment. Levels of care classify therapy by chronology, priority, or intensity, ranging from urgent care to end-of-life care, including palliative and hospice care.
Did You Know?
- The words care, therapy, treatment, and intervention overlap in a semantic field, with care connoting the most holism and intervention the most specificity.
- The English word therapy comes via Latin therapīa from Ancient Greek θεραπεία, meaning 'curing' or 'healing'.
- First-line therapy is the first therapy tried, prioritized based on clinical trial evidence or physician experience.
- In oncology, the count of therapy lines may reach 10 or even 20.
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