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Light therapy is definitely experiencing a moment. There are now available illuminated devices for everything from dermatological concerns and fine lines to muscle pain and gum disease, recently introduced is a dental hygiene device equipped with miniature red light sources, marketed by the company as “a major advance for domestic dental hygiene.” Worldwide, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. Options include full-body infrared sauna sessions, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. As claimed by enthusiasts, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, stimulating skin elasticity, soothing sore muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Understanding the Evidence

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” notes Paul Chazot, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Of course, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Artificial sun lamps frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to boost low mood in winter. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, determining the precise frequency is essential. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Phototherapy, or light therapy uses wavelengths around the middle of this spectrum, 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 dampens down inflammation,” says Dr Bernard Ho. “There’s lots of evidence for phototherapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (usually producing colored light emissions) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

The side-effects of UVB exposure, such as burning or tanning, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – meaning smaller wavelengths – which minimises the risks. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, thus exposure is controlled,” notes the specialist. And crucially, 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 it’s a bit unregulated, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Red and blue light sources, he explains, “aren’t typically employed clinically, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and cell renewal in the skin, and activate collagen formation – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Studies are available,” says Ho. “However, it’s limited.” In any case, amid the sea of devices now available, “we don’t know whether or not the lights emitted are reflective of the research that has been done. Optimal treatment times are unknown, proper positioning requirements, the risk-benefit ratio. Numerous concerns persist.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, a microbe associated with acne. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – although, notes the dermatologist, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. Without proper medical classification, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

At the same time, in advanced research areas, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, identifying a number of ways in which infrared can boost cellular health. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he says. 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.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, however two decades past, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He designed tools for biological testing,” he says. “I was pretty sceptical. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, which most thought had no biological effect.”

Its beneficial characteristic, however, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, creating power for cellular operations. “Every cell in your body has mitochondria, including the brain,” says Chazot, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “It has been shown that in humans this light therapy increases blood flow into the brain, which is always very good.”

With 1070 treatment, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. In limited quantities these molecules, says Chazot, “activates protective proteins that safeguard mitochondria, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: free radical neutralization, swelling control, 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 says, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, comprising his early research projects