Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

Is Thalassotherapy simply a type of
Climatotherapy? no, certainly, it’s not
Morer C (1-2) , Cerrada A (2-3) , Michán A (4-5) , Maraver F (2-6)
(1) Thalasso Center, San Pedro del Pinatar-Murcia, Spain
(2) Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Medical Hydrology, Faculty of
Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
(3) Centro de Talasoterapia Elba Estepona, Málaga, Spain
(4 Internal Medicine Unit, Hospital del Servicio Andaluz de Salud, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
(5) Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Cádiz, 11003 Cádiz, Spain
(6) Professional School of Medical Hydrology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad
Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
carla.morer@thalasia.com
Purpose: The author’s compromise to discuss the proposals made on the letter
published in 2011 on the International Journal of biometeorology: “Is Talassotherapy
simply a type of Climatotherapy?” (Maraver et al. 2011) after the article “A
proposal for a worldwide definition of health resort medicine, balneology, medical
hydrology and climatology” by Gutenbrunner et al. (2010), focus in Thalassotherapy
as a basic component of health resort medicine and not just a type of
Climatotherapy, as it concerns to the medical use of seawaters based on their mineral
properties, also evokes the use of marine peloids, known as lime muds (Mud
Therapy), methodical exposure to the sun (Heliotherapy), partial or full-body warm
sand baths (Ammotherapy or Psammotherapy) and (but not only) marine
climatotherapy (atmosphere, temperature, humidity, wind, barometric pressure
etc.); although MEDLINE/PubMed search of the term “Thalassotherapy” in the
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database only yields the word under the listing
for “Climatotherapy”, which as far as we are concerned is insufficient and inexact.
Worldwide there are many health resort medicine centers dedicated to Thalassotherapy,
especially in countries with coasts in northern and southern Europe, North
Africa, Japan and of course the Dead Sea area (Armijo and San Martín 1994; Bobet
1999; Halevy and Sukenik 1998; Lucchetta et al. 2007). In our country, Spain,
Medical Hydrology is recognized as a medical specialty and Thalassotherapy is part
of its curriculum.
The aim of this paper is, as it was the paper of Guttenbrunner et al. as “the basis
for future discussion: discussion of short descriptions of terms…This task should be
done as part of a structured consensus process and is of major importance for the
publication of scientific results as well as for systematic reviews and meta-analyses”
Balnea
2012, núm. 6, 102-103
102
ISBN: 978-84-669-1887-0
978-84-669-3482-4