Promise in light therapy to treat chronic pain

Chronic pain afflicts over 100 million people across the United States. It diminishes their productivity and their quality of life and costs hundreds of billions of dollars each year to medically manage. It shatters people's emotional well being, tears apart families and claims lives through suicides and accidental drug overdoses. But now researchers at the University of Arizona have found promise in a novel, non-pharmacological approach to managing chronic pain -- treating it with green

Can Light Stimulation of the Vagus Nerve Affect Brain Function?

Dr. Angela Sirigu, from the Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod in Lyon, France, has helped a man in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) for 15 years track objects with his eyes and respond to simple requests.  The 35-year-old remains paralyzed, but when fitted with an implant to stimulate the vagus nerve, which travels into the brain stem, the man appeared to flicker back into a state of consciousness.  He cannot talk, but he can respond after receiving a pioneering therapy

Groundbreaking research on effects of NIR light could lead to effective treatment for PTSD

After years of studying the effects of near-infrared light on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries, a team led by a University of Texas at Arlington bioengineer has published groundbreaking research in Nature's Scientific Reports that could result in an effective, long-term treatment for brain disorders. Professor Hanli Liu was the primary investigator on the project. Her team of graduate students and a research associate, Fenghua Tian, worked with

Is PBM Safe to Use on Everyone?

The North American Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy (NAALT) has stated that photobiomodulation (PBM) is a non-thermal process[i] and are based on photochemical and photophysical changes and not the result of thermal influence in tissue.[ii], [iii].  In all populations, the diversity in skin pigmentation is a common.  Understanding how light interreacts with varying skin tones and pigmentations is necessary to ensure patient safety and reducing unwanted thermal effects. However,

Treating cognitive impairment with transcranial low level laser therapy

Although laser therapy on human tissue has been used for a number of medical conditions since the late 1960s, it is only recently that several clinical studies have shown its value in raising neurometabolic energy levels that can improve cerebral hemodynamics and cognitive abilities in humans. The rationale for this approach is supported by growing evidence that neurodegenerative damage and cognitive impairment during advanced aging is accelerated or triggered by a neuronal energy crisis

Is All Light Created Equal?

Light therapy has been used for over fifteen years in the United States, it’s widespread use in non-pharmalogical pain relief has powered its continued acceptance into clinical practice.  As research continues to validate its effectiveness for pain and rehabilitation, new and exciting uses for the modality are being discovered.  While it is accepted that light stimulates the body’s own repair processes, via stimulation of the cellular mitochondria to increase ATP production, the generation of