BALNEOLOGY — WHERE TO? HISTORY AND CURRENT TRENDS

Surdu O.*, Surdu T-V.*, Profir D.**, Demirgian S.**, Marin V.**, Minea M.**, Ionescu E-V.**, Nechifor M.***

*Ovidius University Constanta, **Balneal and Rehabilitation Sanatorium Techirghiol, *** Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

olga.surdu@yahoo.com, olga@surdu.ro

This paper work presents the current stage in the use of natural factors such as: mineral and thermal waters, mud, peat, climate for healing. From ancient times water was a therapeutic factor for both: preventing health and treating illness.

In Greek and then in Roman times bathing was a social way for cleaning and preventing illness.

In medieval times public baths were in decline because they often became places of licentious behavior, and such use was responsible for the spread rather than the cure of diseases. But the healing properties of water especially mineral and thermal waters were used to treat a lot of ailments.

Starting from the 18th century, bathing became again a social way to maintain health. The development of medical sciences helps the reaffirmation of balneology.

Nowadays there are two directions in using mineral waters: for treating illness and for a kind of prevention which includes delight in a luxury environment.

Actual problems for the medical community, including the balneologists, are:

• Quality of life of aged people and how to prevent unpleasant ailments of aging;
• Children’s healthy growing up and teaching them about healthy lifestyles until very advanced ages;
• Offering people with different illnesses and the victims of different types of accidents (by cars, by wars, by natural disasters, etc), the opportunity to choose a natural way to cure their disabilities by establishing the role and place of rehabilitation with natural factors within the framework of medical insurance;

To accomplish such a difficult task it is necessary to include the functional rehabilitation (recovery) using natural factors as an important pivot of medical activity for improving quality of life and health. For this purpose it is important that all the studies about natural factors respect the rigors of evidence based medicine. Thus, our studies may be communicated to specialists from other medical fields at scientific meetings and published in their journals. It is very important that our voice be heard in the polyphony of the medical sciences.

It is also important that medical education of therapists in this field of medical activity should be well regulated. Linked to this part of our medical activity is the importance of our society’s cooperation with UEMS, ISMH, ISPA, and ISPRM.

In order to reach this aim we want to come up to the General Assembly of FEMTEC with a draft proposal for the importance of natural therapeutic resources for the preservation of humankind’s health.