dedicated to healing
at all levels and dimensions
Energy Detox: for improved health
Dr
Gordon Dougal of the University of Sunderland recently raised eyebrows
after holding aloft a helmet and claiming that the light emitting from it
would cure Alzheimer's disease. This extraordinary claim derives from
research at the University of Sunderland, in North East England, showing
that regular exposure to low levels of infrared light—at 1072 nm, a
wavelength found naturally in sunlight—can improve learning ability.
Low levels of infrared light, such as we receive with simple exposure to
the sun, can restart the brain's cognitive function among people
considered beyond the reach of modern medicine. Dr Dougal is the director
of Virulite, a medical research company based in Newton Aycliffe, in
County Durham, and has pioneered a treatment approach that uses a
lightweight helmet that is designed to deliver this frequency of light at
regular intervals. He is now ready to take the concept one step further by
initiating trials that will use the light helmet to treat dementia
patients, who will be required to wear the helmet for 10 minutes each day.
Dougal got the idea of regenerating the brain through his work with
machines that use infrared light to fight cold sores. The light was found
to boost the immune-system cells responsible for killing the herpes-virus
that causes cold sores.
The research into the use of light to treat cognitive decline grew out of
25 years' worth of research on light therapy to treat seasonal affective
disorder (SAD), a type of depression caused by a lack of exposure to
sunlight. Scientists first theorized that geriatric patients who are
living in institutions and confined to their beds probably receive little
natural light and are likely to be suffering from light deprivation. A
study in which 10 patients were exposed to 10,000 lux of light for 30
minutes for five days showed that their depression levels decreased
significantly during this high-intensity light therapy compared with lower
levels of light exposure. In fact, after such exposures, half of the
participants no longer scored within the depressed range. Furthermore,
they found that the more depressed the patient, according to their
Geriatric Depression Scale scores (GDS), the greater their improvement
(J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2001; 56: M356-60).
Given these findings, scientists then wondered whether light could be used
to treat any psychiatric disturbances other than depression. Their theory
rested on two assumptions: that timed exposures to light causes changes
in circadian (sleep–wake) cycles; and that all diseases are subject to
chronobiological features—that is, cycles that correspond to sunlight.
Thus far, light therapy has been used to treat such mental illnesses as
adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bulimia nervosa and
depression related to Parkinson's disease, as well as to regulate
disturbances in the resting and activity cycles of elderly people with
dementia (CNS Spectr, 2005; 10: 647-63; Sleep Med Rev,
2007; 11: 497-507).
Furthermore, a review of all randomized controlled trials of light
treatment for dementia has shown some improvement in rest–activity rhythm.
Other studies have shown that it can reduce behavioural symptoms of
dementia such as agitation and sleep disturbances (Int J
Geriatr Psychiatry, 2004; 19: 516-22; Psychiatry Res, 1995; 57: 7-12).
Nevertheless, it's likely that individualized systems work best. One study
of bright-light therapy at two psychiatric hospitals and a residential
care facility specially designed for dementia cases found considerable
gender differences in responses. Men and women appeared to react very
differently to the high-intensity, low-glare lighting system installed in
public areas of the studied units. In particular, women registered far
less depression than men in the presence of morning light.
