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Light-based treatment is definitely experiencing a wave of attention. There are now available glowing gadgets designed to address skin conditions and wrinkles to sore muscles and gum disease, the newest innovation is an oral care tool equipped with small red light diodes, promoted by the creators 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. There are even infrared saunas available, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. According to its devotees, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, boosting skin collagen, soothing sore muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” observes Paul Chazot, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Certainly, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, 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 standard treatment for winter mood disorders to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Types of Light Therapy

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In serious clinical research, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, spanning from low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength gamma rays. Phototherapy, or light therapy uses wavelengths around the middle of this spectrum, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and finally infrared detectable with special equipment.

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” says 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) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

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 – meaning smaller wavelengths – which minimises the risks. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, so the dosage is monitored,” notes the specialist. Most importantly, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – unlike in tanning salons, where it’s a bit unregulated, and wavelength accuracy isn’t verified.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Colored light diodes, he says, “aren’t typically employed clinically, though they might benefit some issues.” Red light devices, some suggest, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and cell renewal in the skin, and activate collagen formation – an important goal for anti-aging. “The evidence is there,” comments the expert. “Although it’s not strong.” In any case, given the plethora of available tools, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. We don’t know the duration, proper positioning requirements, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. There are lots of questions.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, bacteria linked to pimples. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – although, notes the dermatologist, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Unless it’s a medical device, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

At the same time, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, revealing various pathways for light-enhanced cell function. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he states. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that it’s too good to be true. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

Chazot mostly works on developing drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, however two decades past, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He developed equipment for cellular and insect experiments,” he recalls. “I remained doubtful. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, which most thought had no biological effect.”

Its beneficial characteristic, nevertheless, was its efficient water penetration, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “All human cells contain mitochondria, even within brain tissue,” says Chazot, who prioritized neurological investigations. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is always very good.”

With 1070 treatment, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. At controlled levels these compounds, says Chazot, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: oxidative protection, inflammation reduction, and cellular cleanup – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

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