The doctor who invented phototherapy for phototherapy a hundred years ago won the Nobel Prize
Phototherapy as a treatment can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a Danish researcher named Niels Ryberg Finsen discovered that light stimulates immune defenses and is effective in preventing infection. Phototherapy is further divided into heliotherapy (natural sunlight therapy) and phototherapy (artificial light therapy).
At the end of the 19th century, it was discovered that phototherapy could be an effective treatment for certain diseases, especially those related to bones, joints and skin, because prolonged exposure to sunlight killed the bacteria that caused the disease. Children with the disease are often sent to special treatment facilities, where they are then encouraged to spend more time outdoors and in the sun. Most of these children come from dirty and dark urban slums, where exposure to the sun boosts their vitamin D levels. level, help them resist diseases, and more importantly, it does not require too much cost.
Since natural sunlight therapy is limited by sunlight and space, artificial light therapy is gradually accepted by the public as an effective treatment method, and many hospitals and institutions provide phototherapy services. The Finsen lamp was invented by Niels Luberi Finsen, a doctor from the Faroe Islands of Denmark. The Finsen lamp is also called an ultraviolet lamp, which can be used for treatment in any season and anywhere. Its light can be concentrated on the patient's body. most affected area. It successfully treated lupus, skin diseases, etc., so Finsen won the Nobel Prize in 1903.
Today, follow a group of photos to experience how people used Finsen lamps for treatment more than a hundred years ago.
A woman undergoes an electrobath, a device that uses electricity to generate heat, at the Faculty of Nursing in 1950.
A woman undergoes an electrobath, a device that uses electricity to generate heat, at the Faculty of Nursing in 1950.
Phototherapy equipment used on the Titanic in 1912
In 1925, American comedian Florence Mills received artificial light therapy in his dressing room.
In 1929, 23-year-old Alma Smith was the "brightest soul" in the "Blackbird" crew of the London Pavilion, and she was exposed to ultraviolet rays every day on the sun machine.
In 1930, Hollywood star Dorothy Sebastian (1903-1957) was treating bronchial congestion with sunlamps at the MGM studios.
Children receiving radiation therapy at the Harrow Road Children's Welfare Centre, West London, 1938.
