🔗 Share this article

Light-based treatment is certainly having a wave of attention. You can now buy glowing gadgets for everything from complexion problems and aging signs along with aching tissues and periodontal issues, the latest being a toothbrush enhanced with miniature red light sources, described by its makers as “a major advance for domestic dental hygiene.” Worldwide, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. Options include full-body infrared sauna sessions, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. According to its devotees, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, enhancing collagen production, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“It appears somewhat mystical,” observes Paul Chazot, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Certainly, we know light influences biological functions. Our bodies produce vitamin D through sun exposure, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Daylight-simulating devices are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to boost low mood in winter. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Different Light Modalities

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Therapeutic light application utilizes intermediate light frequencies, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

UV light has been used by medical dermatologists for many years to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” explains a skin specialist. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (which generally deliver red, infrared or blue light) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

The side-effects of UVB exposure, like erythema or pigmentation, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – signifying focused frequency bands – which decreases danger. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, meaning intensity is regulated,” says Ho. Essentially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where regulations may be lax, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Red and blue LEDs, he explains, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and dermal rejuvenation, and promote collagen synthesis – an important goal for anti-aging. “Research exists,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” In any case, with numerous products on the market, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, proper positioning requirements, the risk-benefit ratio. Many uncertainties remain.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

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 – even though, explains the specialist, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, he mentions, 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. Without proper medical classification, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

Meanwhile, in advanced research areas, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he reports. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that claims seem exaggerated. 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 created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he recalls. “I was quite suspicious. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

Its beneficial characteristic, nevertheless, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, producing fuel for biological processes. “Every cell in your body has mitochondria, particularly in neural cells,” notes the researcher, who prioritized neurological investigations. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is consistently beneficial.”

With specific frequency application, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In limited quantities these molecules, explains the expert, “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 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