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Light-based treatment is clearly enjoying a moment. Consumers can purchase light-emitting tools targeting issues like dermatological concerns and fine lines to aching tissues and periodontal issues, the latest being a toothbrush equipped with small red light diodes, promoted by the creators as “a major advance in personal mouth health.” Globally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. There are even infrared saunas available, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. Based on supporter testimonials, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, enhancing collagen production, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“It feels almost magical,” says a Durham University professor, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Certainly, we know light influences biological functions. Our bodies produce vitamin D through sun exposure, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Sunlight-imitating lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Different Light Modalities

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, determining the precise frequency is essential. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to high-energy gamma radiation. Therapeutic light application utilizes intermediate light frequencies, 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 manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It modulates intracellular immune mechanisms, “and suppresses swelling,” explains a dermatology expert. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

Potential UVB consequences, including sunburn or skin darkening, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – signifying focused frequency bands – that reduces potential hazards. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, so the dosage is monitored,” explains the dermatologist. Essentially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – different from beauty salons, where oversight might be limited, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Red and blue light sources, he notes, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and dermal rejuvenation, and promote collagen synthesis – a primary objective in youth preservation. “Research exists,” says Ho. “But it’s not conclusive.” Nevertheless, given the plethora of available tools, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. We don’t know the duration, how close the lights should be to the skin, the risk-benefit ratio. There are lots of questions.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, a microbe associated with acne. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – despite the fact that, notes the dermatologist, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he says, 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, standards are somewhat unclear.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

At the same time, in advanced research areas, researchers have been testing neural cells, revealing various pathways for light-enhanced cell function. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he says. The numerous reported benefits have generated doubt regarding phototherapy – that results appear unrealistic. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, but over 20 years ago, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he recalls. “I was quite suspicious. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, that nobody believed did anything biological.”

Its beneficial characteristic, though, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, generating energy for them to function. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, including the brain,” says Chazot, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is generally advantageous.”

With 1070 treatment, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. In limited quantities these molecules, 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: antioxidant, inflammation reduction, and cellular cleanup – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he reports, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, including his own initial clinical trials in the US