Marketing Scoops: infraredsauna

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If you wake up hungry and achy every morning, one man might have all the answers you need: Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. At the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, Kellogg, who is famous for creating Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, introduced the so-called Incandescent Electric-Light Bath. That innovation, which used electric bulbs as light therapy to apply heat to the body, laid the groundwork for the modern infrared sauna……….Continue reading….

By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Source: Popular Science

Critics:

Light therapy treatments for the skin usually involve exposure to ultraviolet light. The exposures can be to a small area of the skin or over the whole body surface, as in a tanning bed. The most common treatment is with narrowband UVB, which has a wavelength of approximately 311–313 nanometers. Full body phototherapy can be delivered at a doctor’s office or at home using a large high-power UVB booth.

Tanning beds, however, generate mostly UVA light, and only 4% to 10% of tanning-bed light is in the UVB spectrum. As of 2012 evidence for light therapy and lasers in the treatment of acne vulgaris was not sufficient to recommend them. There is moderate evidence for the efficacy of blue and blue-red light therapies in treating mild acne, but most studies are of low quality.

While light therapy appears to provide short-term benefit, there is a lack of long-term outcome data or data in those with severe acne. Light therapy is considered one of the best monotherapy treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD) when applied to patients who have not responded to traditional topical treatments. The therapy offers a wide range of options: UVA1 for acute AD, NB-UVB for chronic AD, and balneophototherapy have proven their efficacy.

Patients tolerate the therapy safely but, as in any therapy, there are potential adverse effects and care must be taken in its application, particularly to children. According to a study involving 21 adults with severe atopic dermatitis, narrowband UVB phototherapy administered three times per week for 12 weeks reduced atopic dermatitis severity scores by 68%. In this open study, 15 patients still experienced long-term benefits six months later.

According to the American Cancer Society, there is some evidence that ultraviolet light therapy may be effective in helping treat certain kinds of skin cancer, and ultraviolet blood irradiation therapy is established for this application. However, alternative uses of light for cancer treatment – light box therapy and colored light therapy – are not supported by evidence. Photodynamic therapy (often with red light) is used to treat certain superficial non-melanoma skin cancers.

For psoriasis, UVB phototherapy has been shown to be effective. A feature of psoriasis is localized inflammation mediated by the immune system. Ultraviolet radiation is known to suppress the immune system and reduce inflammatory responses. Light therapy for skin conditions like psoriasis usually use 313 nanometer UVB though it may use UVA (315–400 nm wavelength) or a broader spectrum UVB (280–315 nm wavelength). UVA combined with psoralen, a drug taken orally, is known as PUVA treatment.

In UVB phototherapy the exposure time is very short, seconds to minutes depending on intensity of lamps and the person’s skin pigment and sensitivity. About 1% of the human population has vitiligo which causes painless distinct light-colored patches of the skin on the face, hands, and legs. Phototherapy is an effective treatment because it forces skin cells to manufacture melanin to protect the body from UV damage. Prescribed treatment is generally 3 times a week in a clinic or daily at home.

About 1 month usually results in re-pigmentation in the face and neck, and 2–4 months in the hands and legs. Narrowband UVB is more suitable to the face and neck and PUVA is more effective at the hands and legs. Some types of phototherapy may be effective in the treatment of polymorphous light eruption, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and lichen planus. Narrowband UVB between 311 and 313 nanometers is the most common treatment.

There is preliminary evidence that light therapy is an effective treatment for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular oedema. The effectiveness of light therapy for treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD) may be linked to reduced sunlight exposure in the winter months. Light resets the body’s internal clock.

Studies show that light therapy helps reduce the debilitating depressive symptoms of SAD, such as excessive sleepiness and fatigue, with results lasting for at least 1 month. Light therapy is preferred over antidepressants in the treatment of SAD because it is a relatively safe and easy therapy with minimal side effects. Two methods of light therapy, bright light and dawn simulation, have similar success rates in the treatment of SAD.

It is possible that response to light therapy for SAD could be season dependent. Morning therapy has provided the best results because light in the early morning aids in regulating the circadian rhythm. People affected by SAD often have low energy, tend to eat more carbohydrates and sleep longer, but symptoms can vary between people. A Cochrane review conducted in 2019 states the evidence that light therapy’s effectiveness as a treatment for the prevention of seasonal affective disorder is limited, although the risk of adverse effects are minimal.

Therefore, the decision to use light therapy should be based on a person’s preference of treatment. Light therapy has also been suggested in the treatment of non-seasonal depression and other psychiatric mood disturbances, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and postpartum depression. A meta-analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that “for patients suffering from non-seasonal depression, light therapy offers modest though promising antidepressive efficacy.”

A 2008 systematic review concluded that “overall, bright light therapy is an excellent candidate for inclusion into the therapeutic inventory available for the treatment of nonseasonal depression today, as adjuvant therapy to antidepressant medication, or eventually as stand-alone treatment for specific subgroups of depressed patients.” A 2015 review found that supporting evidence for light therapy was limited due to serious methodological flaws.

A 2016 meta-analysis showed that bright light therapy appeared to be efficacious, particularly when administered for 2–5 weeks’ duration and as monotherapy. Light therapy is used to treat cases of neonatal jaundice. Bilirubin, a yellow pigment normally formed in the liver during the breakdown of old red blood cells, cannot always be effectively cleared by a neonate’s liver causing neonatal jaundice. Accumulation of excess bilirubin can cause central nervous system damage, and so this buildup of bilirubin must be treated.

Phototherapy uses the energy from light to isomerize the bilirubin and consequently transform it into compounds that the newborn can excrete via urine and stools. Bilirubin is most successful absorbing light in the blue region of the visible light spectrum, which falls between 460 and 490 nm.Therefore, light therapy technologies that utilize these blue wavelengths are the most successful at isomerizing bilirubin. Lux measures the amount of illumination in a square meter. The distance affects how much area the light is spread over.

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