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Light-based treatment is certainly having a moment. There are now available glowing gadgets designed to address skin conditions and wrinkles as well as sore muscles and gum disease, recently introduced is a dental hygiene device outfitted with miniature red light sources, described by its makers as “a major advance in at-home oral care.” Globally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. You can even go and sit in an infrared sauna, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. As claimed by enthusiasts, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, boosting skin collagen, relaxing muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

The Science and Skepticism

“It appears somewhat mystical,” says a neuroscience expert, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Of course, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, additionally, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Daylight-simulating devices frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. In serious clinical research, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, determining the precise frequency is essential. 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 utilizes intermediate light frequencies, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).

UV light has been used by medical dermatologists for many years for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and suppresses swelling,” explains a dermatology expert. “There’s lots of evidence for phototherapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (usually producing colored light emissions) “generally affect surface layers.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

The side-effects of UVB exposure, including sunburn or skin darkening, are well known but in medical devices the light is delivered in a “narrow-band” form – signifying focused frequency bands – that reduces potential hazards. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, meaning intensity is regulated,” explains the dermatologist. Most importantly, the light sources are adjusted by technical experts, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – different from beauty salons, where regulations may be lax, and wavelength accuracy isn’t verified.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue LEDs, he notes, “don’t have strong medical applications, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and skin cell regeneration, and activate collagen formation – a primary objective in youth preservation. “The evidence is there,” says Ho. “However, it’s limited.” Regardless, with numerous products on the market, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. Optimal treatment times are unknown, proper positioning requirements, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. There are lots of questions.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, bacteria linked to pimples. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – despite the fact that, explains the specialist, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he mentions, however for consumer products, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Unless it’s a medical device, standards are somewhat unclear.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

At the same time, in innovative scientific domains, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he reports. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that results appear unrealistic. However, scientific investigation has altered his perspective.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, though twenty years earlier, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he says. “I remained doubtful. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

What it did have going for it, however, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, generating energy for them to function. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, including the brain,” notes the researcher, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is always very good.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, cellular power plants create limited oxidative molecules. In limited quantities these molecules, says Chazot, “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, anti-inflammatory, and pro-autophagy – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he reports, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, including his own initial clinical trials in the US