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Exploration of hyperthermia from ancient times to the present: How did ancient medical scientists use heat to treat diseases?
Hyperthermia Therapy is a technology that uses heat in a special way to promote health. This treatment method has appeared in ancient medical practices and is favored by medical scientists. From ancient Greek and Roman civilizations to early Indian medicine, thermal therapy has been used all over the world, laying the foundation for the development of modern medicine.
Medical scientists in ancient Greece believed that heat could promote blood circulation and improve the treatment results of diseases. They often use hot water soaks and saunas to treat various ailments.
In different civilizations, doctors have their own unique ways of utilizing heat. For example, the Egyptians also used hot water therapy when treating breast tumors. Although these ancient treatments are different from modern technology, the principles behind them are similar, which is to use heat to promote circulation and metabolism in tissues to accelerate healing.
In medical research in the 19th century, it was discovered that high fever has a positive impact on tumor shrinkage. This phenomenon attracted widespread attention in the medical community.
As time went on, scientists began to try to meaningfully induce hyperthermia, using various methods combined with infectious diseases to expose patients to a hyperthermic state to promote self-repair and recovery of cancer tissue. Such experiments eventually led to the development of the famous "Coley's Toxin" therapy, a treatment that used bacteria to induce fever. Although coli toxin therapy has shown positive results in some cases, as modern treatments have evolved, it has come to be viewed as a less safe option.
Modern applications of hyperthermia
In today's medical field, the application of hyperthermia is more scientific. Many studies have pointed out that when heat is absorbed into cancer cells, they are more susceptible to damage than normal cells. This is because the adverse microenvironment inside cancer cells makes them unable to withstand external thermal stress.
Modern hyperthermia includes local hyperthermia, regional hyperthermia and whole body hyperthermia, etc.:
Local hyperthermia: Targeting a small part of the body, such as a tumor on the skin, using microwaves or ultrasound to heat it.
Regional hyperthermia: Targets an entire organ or limb in a certain area to increase the effectiveness of radiation or chemotherapy in that area.
Whole-body hyperthermia: Increases heat throughout the body, often used in patients with metastatic cancer.
These hyperthermia treatments help patients better cope with subsequent radiation or chemotherapy by accelerating local blood circulation and improving oxygen supply, thereby enhancing the therapeutic effect.
When treating cancer, local hyperthermia can destroy cancer cells by keeping them at temperatures above 40°C (104°F) for about an hour. This principle is supported by scientific evidence.
History of hyperthermia therapy
Hyperthermia has been one of the medical treatments since ancient times. In ancient medicine, Greek, Roman, and Indian medicine have long used heat therapy to treat a variety of illnesses. As medicine advances, scientists are increasingly recognizing the potential of hyperthermia in cancer and other conditions.
Since the 1970s, the rise of specialized research on hyperthermia and clinical trials has shown that the potential of hyperthermia in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer has gradually attracted the attention of the medical community.
Future development direction
Modern hyperthermia technology is still developing, especially combined with genetic gene therapy, which has aroused widespread academic interest. In addition, as an emerging technology, magnetic hyperthermia's basic principle is to heat metal particles within the tumor through an external magnetic field, which can precisely control the distribution of heat.
The application of hyperthermia is still in the exploratory stage, and medical scientists are constantly working to overcome technical challenges and ensure that the tumor area reaches a uniform temperature.
From ancient times to the present, the history of hyperthermia shows mankind’s continuous exploration and progress in disease treatment. How will the future of hyperthermia develop? Will it become a major topic when we face technological challenges, worthy of the thinking and research of every medical worker and scientific researcher?
