LET THERE BE LIGHT
LEDS are treating all kinds of woes, from wrinkles to sore muscles and maybe even memory loss. April Long shines a light
LED therapy can do a whole lot more than just perfect your skin, from lowering blood pressure to boosting your brain power.
The potential of light therapy – exposing the body to specific segments of the electromagnetic spectrum to address certain health conditions – was first recognised in the early 1900s, when Niels Ryberg Finsen picked up a Nobel Prize for his treatment of lupus vulgaris (nasty tuberculosis skin lesions) with ultraviolet radiation. The practice got a boost in the ’90s when NASA sent LEDS into orbit, having discovered that the wavelengths emitted by the tiny electronic light sources could enhance cellular energy in plants, enabling them to sprout aboard space shuttles. When researchers found LED exposure also benefitted human cells, it resulted in the development of LED therapies for pain management and wound healing. Now, the uses are prolific: different wavelengths have been shown to act on everything from acne to arthritis, affecting the body (and even the brain) in ways that may revolutionise wellness.
LED 101
LEDS (light-emitting diodes) can beam light, in the form of photons, across the spectrum – from ultraviolet through the rainbow of colours we see to invisible infrared. Their wavelength (measured in nanometres) determines their colour and visibility.
BLUE (475NM)
Works on the epidermis to destroy the bacteria associated with acne.
RED (650NM)
Anti-inflammatory, minimises the pore clogging that contributes to acne, stimulates collagen and promotes hair growth.
INFRARED (780NM)
Invisible to the eye, infrared light can help increase circulation. Near infrared – with wavelengths closest to visible red – is used for skin tightening and neurological rejuvenation.
body work
The slogan at Higherdose, NYC’S infrared sauna spa, is “Get high naturally”; its website greets you with an image of a nude woman frolicking in a jungle. One could be forgiven for inferring that ayahuasca might be involved. Instead, the experience involves basking in infrared-induced heat for up to 60 minutes in one of its saunas, which reach a maximum temperature of about 65°C (markedly lower than traditional saunas, which can approach 90°C). Studies show that “far infrared” (the longest wavelength in the infrared spectrum) lowers blood pressure, improves coronary function and reduces oxidative stress in heart disease patients. Infrared sauna devotees include Gwyneth Paltrow (natch) and Lady Gaga (who swears by its chronic-pain-relieving powers), while Selena Gomez favours a blanket fitted with infrared-emitting filaments. Another way to enjoy the beneficial beams can be experienced via a 40-minute session lying on a Lightstim Professional LED Bed, which features LEDS calibrated to emit a broad spectrum from visible red to far infrared and
“LED is an amazing new frontier in the anti-ageing arsenal”
is used to treat muscle, joint and arthritic pain, as well as to stimulate local blood circulation. Although questions remain as to exactly how red-to-infrared light can confer such diverse benefits, the wavelengths have been shown to prompt a cascade of positive reactions at the cellular level, including boosting nitric oxide – dubbed the “miracle molecule” after the three pharmacologists who discovered its many properties were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998 – and triggering mitochondria to produce ATP, the primary molecule responsible for storing and transporting energy in cells. “We know LED in the right wavelengths produces nitric oxide in the body, and by the time we’re 50 or 60, our bodies are only releasing about 20 per cent of the amount they released when we were 20,” says Lightstim CEO Steve Marchese. “Having high levels of nitric oxide can reduce strokes and increase blood flow to the brain, plus reduce lactic acid build-up in the muscles, so it can give athletes more stamina and strength and reduce recovery time.”
skin deep
Ever since Kim Kardashian brandished a Baby Quasar in 2015, an increasingly sophisticated array of at-home LED gizmos has emerged, promising to reduce fine lines and wrinkles with regular use. NYC dermatologist Dr Dennis Gross has harnessed the red-light spectrum to de-age eyes with his Spectralite, a chargeable mask to be worn three minutes a day, which he says will produce noticeable smoothing results in two weeks. “When a light is stimulating collagen, it works on the fibroblast cell in the dermis,” he says. “Red LED wavelengths, specifically, activate a unique receptor on the fibroblast surface, leading to collagen production. They also reduce the amount of enzymes that break down collagen and work on mitochondria to increase ATP levels. There’s no trauma to the skin – no heat or dryness. LED is an amazing new frontier in the anti-ageing arsenal.” Whereas acne-fighting blue wavelengths address the epidermis, red and infrared penetrate deeper. “I like to use a little bit of infrared,” Gross says, “because it stimulates circulation, which improves the look of the skin by bringing in antioxidants from the bloodstream. In sundamaged skin, there’s a loss of collagen lower down, and infrared can go below the dermis, where the blood vessels are, to induce healing.” Infrared wavelengths can also be used to tighten lax skin. Dermatologist Dr Macrene Alexiades uses the near-infrared-emitting Alma device to firm up saggy jowls. “Infrared has been shown to improve both collagen and elastin,” she says. “Sagging is due to a loss of elastin, so something that stimulates elastin is going to give better tightening than something that just stimulates collagen.” A study in the Journalofdrugsindermatology in 2009 showed increases in collagen and elastin up to 90 days after treatment with infrared, and a randomised trial published in 2014 in Photomedicine
Andlasersurgery involving 136 subjects demonstrated that nearly all volunteers who were exposed to red and near-infrared light for 30 sessions showed significant improvement in skin roughness and collagen density. As for the patients Alexiades treats, she says: “Ninety-nine per cent of the time there’s an evident tightening result after the first treatment.”
brain power
Perhaps the most surprising area in which light therapy could have profound benefits is the brain. British physician Dr Gordon Dougal, who developed a helmet containing 700 infrared LEDS in partnership with neuroscientists at the University of Sunderland in 2008, is currently conducting double-blind clinical trials looking at its effects on “general memory impairment” in otherwise healthy patients; his belief is that the helmet might be used to protect against neurological decline. The science is promising: mice treated with infrared have shown gains in recall, and in a study published in 2013 in Neuroscience, all 20 healthy subjects who were treated with red to near-infrared lights applied to their foreheads experienced improvements in reaction time, memory and mood after one treatment. Light might also provide relief from traumatic brain injuries (TBI). A clinical study conducted by researchers from Boston University, Harvard and MIT reported upticks in executive function, learning and memory after near-infrared treatment (delivered via a cap fitted with LEDS) in patients suffering TBI. There’s even hope that the technology could mitigate Alzheimer’s. A 2016 MIT study showed that pulsed LED light reduced beta-amyloid plaques, the deleterious proteins associated with the development of the disease, by 50 per cent in rodent brains. A device inspired by this study – the Vielight Neuro Gamma, which combines a red-light LED designed to be clipped inside the nostril (where capillaries are close to the surface of the skin) and an infrared-emitting headpiece – is now undergoing a 40-patient pilot study, to be followed by a larger trial involving more than 200 patients. Dermatologist Dr Nicholas Perricone, who says he experienced clearer thinking and more energy while trying Dougal’s helmet, believes we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg. “We’re going to keep expanding research into the electromagnetic spectrum, especially infrared, and there will be more and more devices out there,” he says. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a nonpharmacologic approach to many of these problems just by using very benign amounts of different frequencies of light?”