🔗 Share this article

Light therapy is certainly having a surge in popularity. You can now buy illuminated devices designed to address dermatological concerns and fine lines along with aching tissues and gum disease, recently introduced is an oral care tool enhanced with small red light diodes, promoted by the creators as “a breakthrough in personal mouth health.” Worldwide, the sector valued at $1bn last year is expected to increase to $1.8bn within the next decade. There are even infrared saunas available, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. According to its devotees, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, enhancing collagen production, soothing sore muscles, reducing swelling and persistent medical issues and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

The Science and Skepticism

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” notes a Durham University professor, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Naturally, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, as well, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Daylight-simulating devices are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to elevate spirits during colder months. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. In serious clinical research, including research on infrared’s impact on neural cells, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Light-based treatment employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and finally infrared detectable with special equipment.

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and dampens down inflammation,” says a skin specialist. “There’s lots of evidence for phototherapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin than UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

The side-effects of UVB exposure, like erythema or pigmentation, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – meaning smaller wavelengths – which decreases danger. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, meaning intensity is regulated,” says Ho. And crucially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – different from beauty salons, where regulations may be lax, and wavelength accuracy isn’t verified.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Colored light diodes, he says, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red light devices, some suggest, improve circulatory function, oxygen uptake and cell renewal in the skin, and activate collagen formation – a primary objective in youth preservation. “Research exists,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” Nevertheless, amid the sea of devices now available, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, ideal distance from skin surface, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Many uncertainties remain.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, microorganisms connected to breakouts. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – although, notes the dermatologist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. Unless it’s a medical device, standards are somewhat unclear.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Meanwhile, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, researchers have been testing neural cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Pretty much everything I did with the light at that particular wavelength was positive and protective,” he reports. The numerous reported benefits have generated doubt regarding phototherapy – that it’s too good to be true. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, however two decades past, a physician creating light-based cold sore therapy requested his biological knowledge. “He designed tools for biological testing,” he says. “I was quite suspicious. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

The advantage it possessed, though, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. These organelles generate cellular energy, creating power for cellular operations. “All human cells contain mitochondria, particularly in neural cells,” explains the neuroscientist, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is always very good.”

With 1070 treatment, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. At controlled levels these compounds, notes the scientist, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: oxidative protection, swelling control, and pro-autophagy – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he reports, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, including his own initial clinical trials in the US