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Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία), or treatment, is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis. In the medical field, it is synonymous with the word ''treatment''.

Therapeutic effects

A ''therapeutic effect'' is a consequence of a particular treatment which is judged to be desirable and beneficial. This is true whether the result was expected, unexpected, or even an unintended consequence of the treatment. In talk therapy a therapeutic effect can be brought on by insight from the client that is caused by the clinician asking thoughtful and discerning questions regarding the past and/or present moment. Freud's main purpose in therapy was to make the unconscious conscious.

What constitutes a therapeutic effect vs. a side effect is a matter of both the nature of the situation in which a treatment is used and the goals of treatment.

Adverse effects

In addition to (or in place of) the intended therapeutic effect of a treatment, a therapist may cause undesired (adverse) effects as well. When an adverse effect is weaker than the therapeutic effect, it is commonly referred to as a ''side effect''. An adverse effect may result from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or procedure (which could be due to medical error). Some adverse effects occur only when starting, increasing or discontinuing a treatment. Using a drug or other medical intervention which is contraindicated may increase the risk of adverse effects. Patients sometimes quit a therapy because of its adverse effects. The severity of adverse effects ranges from nausea to death.

Common adverse effects include alteration in body weight, change in enzyme levels, loss of function, or pathological change detected at the microscopic, macroscopic or physiological level.

Adverse effects may cause a reversible or irreversible change, including an increase or decrease in the susceptibility of the individual to other chemicals, foods, or procedures (e.g. drug interaction).

Difference between preventions, treatments, and cures

A prevention or preventive measure is a way to avoid an injury, sickness, or disease in the first place, and generally it will not help someone who is already ill (though there are exceptions). For instance, many babies in developed countries are given a polio vaccination soon after they are born, which prevents them from contracting polio. But the vaccination does not work on patients who already have polio. A treatment or cure is applied after a medical problem has already started.

A treatment treats a problem, and may lead to its cure, but treatments more often ameliorate a problem only for as long as the treatment is continued. For example, there is no cure for AIDS, but treatments are available to slow down the harm done by HIV and delay the fatality of the disease. Treatments don't always work. For example, chemotherapy is a treatment for some types of some cancers, which may in some cases enact a cure, but not in all cases for all cancers.

Cures are a subset of treatments that reverse illnesses completely or end medical problems permanently.