Overview
- Editors:
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James D. Regan
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, USA
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John A. Parrish
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Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA
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About this book
Although the history of photomedicine dates back thousands of years, with even preliterate cultures appreciating the healing properties of sunlight, for many workers in the discipline photomedicine is associated with the observation about 100 years ago of Niels Finsen, a Danish physician. Finsen recognized that people with tuberculosis who lived in Norway and who had very little exposure to sunlight often developed facial lesions (lupus vulgaris) which would decrease and sometimes disappear during the summer months. This very observant physician reasoned that artificial light ought to produce the same effect as sunlight and began utilizing the radiation from the newly available carbon arc. At first, he used a glass lens to concentrate the radiation, but since this produced considerable burning, he replaced this with a hollow glass lens filled with water. However, while this reduced the heat burns, it did not actually duplicate the effect of direct sunlight. Finally, using a hollow lens filled with water but equipped with quartz windows, Finsen was able to imitate, even improve upon, the effect of sunlight. As a result, lupus vulgaris was practically eliminated from the Scandinavian countries.
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Table of contents (23 chapters)
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Photoprotection
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- M. A. Pathak, T. B. Fitzpatrick, J. A. Parrish
Pages 441-473
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Therapeutic Photomedicine
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Front Matter
Pages 475-475
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- T. R. C. Sisson, T. P. Vogl
Pages 477-509
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- M. Jarratt, W. Hubler Jr., W. Panek
Pages 561-570
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- J. A. Parrish, R. S. Stern, M. A. Pathak, T. B. Fitzpatrick
Pages 595-623
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- T. J. Dougherty, D. G. Boyle, K. R. Weishaupt
Pages 625-638
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Back Matter
Pages 639-658
Editors and Affiliations
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, USA
James D. Regan
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Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA
John A. Parrish