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Light-based treatment is definitely experiencing a wave of attention. There are now available illuminated devices designed to address dermatological concerns and fine lines along with muscle pain and oral inflammation, recently introduced is a toothbrush equipped with tiny red LEDs, promoted by the creators as “a significant discovery in personal mouth health.” Globally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn 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. According to its devotees, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, stimulating skin elasticity, relaxing muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions while protecting against dementia.

Research and Reservations

“It appears somewhat mystical,” says Paul Chazot, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Naturally, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, as well, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and signaling the body to slow down for nighttime. Artificial sun lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. In serious clinical research, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, determining the precise frequency is essential. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, spanning from low-energy radio waves to high-energy gamma radiation. Therapeutic light application uses wavelengths around the middle of this spectrum, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” notes a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (typically emitting red, infrared or blue wavelengths) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

UVB radiation effects, such as burning or tanning, are well known but in medical devices the light is delivered in a “narrow-band” form – signifying focused frequency bands – which decreases danger. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, thus exposure is controlled,” notes the specialist. And crucially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – unlike in tanning salons, where oversight might be limited, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Colored light diodes, he says, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, improve circulatory function, oxygen uptake and dermal rejuvenation, and activate collagen formation – an important goal for anti-aging. “Studies are available,” comments the expert. “Although it’s not strong.” In any case, given the plethora of available tools, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, how close the lights should be to the skin, if benefits outweigh potential risks. Numerous concerns persist.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, a microbe associated with acne. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – although, says Ho, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. Unless it’s a medical device, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

At the same time, in advanced research areas, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he states. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that results appear unrealistic. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, but over 20 years ago, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “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.”

The advantage it possessed, nevertheless, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “All human cells contain mitochondria, particularly in neural cells,” says Chazot, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is generally advantageous.”

With 1070 treatment, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In limited quantities these molecules, says Chazot, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: oxidative protection, inflammation reduction, and pro-autophagy – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he reports, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, comprising his early research projects