hydropathy

hydropathy
hydropathic /huy'dreuh path"ik/, hydropathical, adj.hydropathist, hydropath, n.
/huy drop"euh thee/, n.
the curing of disease by the internal and external use of water.
[1835-45; HYDRO-1 + -PATHY]

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      therapeutic system that professes to cure all disease with water, either by bathing in it or by drinking it. Although water therapy is currently used to treat certain ailments, its effectiveness is generally accepted to be limited. Most authorities agree that many disease and injury conditions are indirectly improved by the relaxing effect of the patient's immersion in water. Hydropathy as a formal therapeutic system came into vogue during the 19th century through the efforts of Vinzenz Priessnitz (1799–1851), a Silesian farmer who believed in the medicinal value of water from the wells on his land. See also hydrotherapy; spa.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Hydropathy — Hy*drop a*thy, n. [Hydro , 1 + Gr. ?, ?, to suffer.] The water cure; a mode of treating diseases by the copious and frequent use of pure water, both internally and externally. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hydropathy — ► NOUN ▪ the treatment of illness through the use of water, either internally or externally. DERIVATIVES hydropathic adjective hydropathist noun …   English terms dictionary

  • hydropathy — [hī dräp′ə thē] n. [ HYDRO + PATHY] a method of treatment that attempts to cure all diseases by the use of water, including consumption of mineral water and hydrotherapy hydropathic [hī΄drə path′ik] adj. hydropathist n …   English World dictionary

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  • hydropathy plot — Approximate way of deducing the higher order structure of a protein, based on the principle that 20 30 consistently hydrophobic residues are necessary to make a membrane spanning a helix. For each amino acid residue, a weighted average of the… …   Dictionary of molecular biology

  • hydropathy — noun Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary Date: 1843 a method of treating disease by copious and frequent use of water both externally and internally compare hydrotherapy • hydropathic adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • hydropathy — noun The therapeutic use of water, either internal or external Syn: hydrotherapy …   Wiktionary

  • hydropathy — The obsolete use of water to treat and cure disease. * * * hy·drop·a·thy hī dräp ə thē n, pl thies a method of treating disease by copious and frequent use of water both externally and internally compare HYDROTHERAPY hy·dro·path·ic …   Medical dictionary

  • hydropathy — (Roget s IV) n. Syn. physiotherapy, water treatment, cure; see therapy , treatment 2 …   English dictionary for students

  • hydropathy — study of treating diseases with water Sciences and Studies …   Phrontistery dictionary

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