Water Researcher Advocates Reevaluation of 18th and 19th Century Water Therapy Movement
Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water Host Sees Potential Medical Benefit of 19th Century Water Therapy for Numerous Diseases Related to Pollution, Drought and Dehydration
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In the 18th and 19th Centuries, water therapy - also called hydrotherapy - was fundamental to the practice of medicine. Today, according to radio talk show host and water researcher Sharon Kleyne, water therapy has been relegated to a minor role with limited applications. At a time when climate change, water shortages, drought and pollution are creating a global health crisis in dehydration related diseases, the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water host contends that hydrotherapy's time has arrived - again.
Kleyne defines "water therapy" as any medical treatment involving water. The most common water therapy is whirlpool baths for sports injuries. However, says Kleyne, the term also applies to certain types of inhalation therapies, advising patients with the flu to "drink lots of water," IV drips to counteract dehydration, hydro-mist applications for dry skin, dry eyes and breathing disorders, sweat saunas and mineral baths to detoxify the body, and water enemas.
Today's dry and polluted atmosphere, according to Kleyne, is increasingly dehydrating to the human body and diseases related to fresh water and dehydration claim a child's life every 21 seconds. The water therapies of the past, Kleyne contends, deserve reevaluation a method of supplementing and maintaining body hydration to prevent or reverse dehydration related diseases.
Modern medical practice, Kleyne believes, has become overly concerned with formulated medications and "quick-fix" therapies. Water therapies prescribed by physicians 150 years ago are today utilized mostly as health adjuncts and rarely as primary medical therapies.
The practice of water therapy, according to Kleyne, began in antiquity and there is evidence that the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used water immersion, mineral baths and saunas to improve health. The Romans were famous for their bath houses.
Modern hydrotherapy, Kleyne explains, traces to the German Hydrotherapy Revival of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Key contributors, among others, were Vincez Priessnitz (1797 to 1851), Father Sebastian Kneipp (1821 to 1897) and Benedict Lust (1872 to 1945). Priesssnitz is considered the "Father of Modern Hydrotherapy." Kneipp, Priessnitz's protégé, cured himself of tuberculosis using hydrotherapy and wrote the classic book Mein Wasserkur (My Water Cure) (1891). He is considered the "Father of Naturopathy." Benedict Lust was a student of Kneipp who founded the American School of Naturopathy, which relied heavily of water therapy.
A few of the many key players in the Second Hydrotherapy Revival, as Kleyne calls it, both past and present, include John Harvey Kellogg (1852 to 1943), Paul Bragg (1881 to 1976), Ferydoon Batmanghelidj (1931 to 2004), Gerald Pollack and herself. Through Kleyne's own efforts, and her work with Pollack, the Bragg family, Women for Water and many others, Kleyne is making the Second Hydrotherapy Revival a reality.
Kleyne advocates drinking at least eight full glasses of pure water each day, in addition to all other fluid intake, beginning with two glasses upon rising.
The globally syndicated Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water® radio show, with host Sharon Kleyne, is heard on VoiceAmerica and Apple iTunes. Kleyne is also Founder of Bio-Logic Aqua Research, a research, technology and product development center and the world's only company specializing in fresh water, atmosphere and health. Natures Tears® EyeMist®, a 100% pure water mist, is the Research Center's global signature product for dry eyes. Kleyne is owner of worldwide intellectual property and patent awards on water technology.
Gardner, H and Kries, S, "The Central European Spa Tradition," Hidden Europe, 2005 http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/the-central-european-spa-tradition
Water.org, "Making a Difference," 2014, http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/children/