Heliotherapy

/ˌhiːliəˈθɛrəpi/ noun

Definition

A medical treatment that uses exposure to sunlight or solar radiation to cure or manage certain illnesses and health conditions.

Etymology

From Greek 'helios' (sun) and 'therapeia' (healing, treatment). This term was popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as physicians discovered health benefits of sunlight.

Kelly Says

Heliotherapy was hugely popular in the 1920s-1940s, and it actually worked for some conditions like rickets (vitamin D deficiency)—modern science eventually proved the sun's healing power was real, just not miraculous.

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