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Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Spirituality in Cardiovascular Disease
Published in Stephen T. Sinatra, Mark C. Houston, Nutritional and Integrative Strategies in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2022
Erminia Guarneri, Shyamia Stone
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) refers to depression that occurs when light exposure is limited. This has led to research exploring the impact of light on depression and serotonin synthesis,140 which has implications for all types of depression. While light therapy is a highly accepted form of treatment for SAD, it has also been studied as a noninvasive modality to treat non-seasonal depression.141–143 A review by Zhao and colleagues144 illustrates the efficacy of utilizing light therapy in the morning within 30 minutes of waking to combat depression in various populations including geriatric populations, individuals with MDD, and those with minor depression. A significant decrease in depressive symptoms was found across various treatment conditions, though the greatest results were found when white or pale blue light is administered at an intensity of 5,000 lux for 50 minutes within 30 minutes of waking for a duration of 2–4 weeks.144 Light therapy is noninvasive, with no reported adverse effects, and additional benefits of increasing sleep efficacy and evening melatonin production.145 Where possible, light therapy could also be incorporated with exercise, by encouraging patients to go for a 50–60 minute walk in the sun every morning upon waking.
Emotional Health and Stress Management
Published in James M. Rippe, Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Neil Nedly, Francisco E Ramirez
Light therapy helps deal with stress by improving emotional control. A double-blind clinical trial in which participants received 30 minutes daily of light therapy for three weeks explored this effect. The light had the same wavelength as daylight. Participants were exposed to pictures of different human faces with various expressions reflecting neutral, angry, or fearful emotions while undergoing an flMRI scan both before and after the light therapy. After three weeks, the brain’s ability to control the amygdala (i.e. “fear center”) response improved. That is, there was a blunted negative response to faces of fear or anger: the more intense the light, the greater the effect.84 The researcher commented “We humans respond naturally to other people’s anger and fear. But we observed that the participants responded less to fear in the pictures after the light treatment.” The light had an effect on the frontal lobe ability to control the amygdala, therefore, controlling emotional response. In a randomized study, participants were randomized to pale blue light or red light (with no known benefits to the body) exposure; they were told to use it every morning for one hour over three weeks. Patients who underwent blue light therapy had higher levels of evening melatonin and a drop-off in cortisol, which, at the start of the study, had been elevated.85
Healing with Light
Published in Aruna Bakhru, Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Anadi Martel, Wesley Burwell, Magda Havas
Light therapy refers to treatments that involve using the sun (heliotherapy) or artificial forms of light (phototherapy) consisting of one (monochromatic) or more (polychromatic) colors (chromotherapy) at specific wavelengths (measured as nm) of the visible spectrum (red to blue) and extending to near infrared (NIR) and near ultraviolet (NUV) radiation. There are three main modalities for light therapy: low-level light therapy (LLLT), bright light therapy, and chromotherapy.
Evaluating chronotypically tailored light therapy for breast cancer survivors: Preliminary findings on fatigue and disrupted sleep
Published in Chronobiology International, 2022
Horng-Shiuann Wu, F. Gao, L. Yan, C. Given
Together, these preliminary findings provide some evidence to support bright light as a promising non-pharmacological intervention for fatigue and disrupted sleep in post-treatment breast cancer survivors. Unlike previous studies, chronotypically tailored bright light therapy demonstrated the beneficial effects on not only fatigue but also sleep. Unexpectedly, we found that the participants in the control group benefited even more from the dim red light. The unexpected findings remain unexplained, but nonetheless indicate the potential of using long wavelength (red) light as an alternative option to blue light. If used at the proper time, even with lower intensity, light may promote advantageous changes in sleep/wake patterns. These results suggest the importance of individualizing the administration of light therapy. Properly timed light exposure may optimize the therapeutic effects. In sum, tailoring light administration timing based on individuals’ differences has been overlooked but could be crucial for the efficacy of light therapy on managing fatigue and sleep disruption in post-treatment breast cancer survivors.
Bright light shows promise in improving sleep, depression, and quality of life in women with breast cancer during chemotherapy: findings of a pilot study
Published in Chronobiology International, 2021
Horng-Shiuann Wu, J. E. Davis, L. Chen
The efficacy of light therapy depends on the time of day the light is administered (Dijk et al. 1995; Gooley 2008). According to circadian physiology, light exposure in the morning induces sleep onset at an earlier time, eliciting phase advance of the circadian system. Conversely, light exposure in the evening suppresses sleep onset until a later time, delaying the phases. Existing studies have shown that morning bright light prevents fatigue and QOL from worsening during chemotherapy (Ancoli-Israel et al. 2012; Jeste et al. 2013). However, these studies did not consider the differences in the individuals’ circadian chronotype (morningness-eveningness). Without considering differences in individuals’ circadian chronotypes, light can induce changes in an unwanted direction, further disrupting or worsening their circadian aberrations. The purpose of this pilot study was to estimate the effects of a home-based bright light intervention on sleep disruption, fatigue, daytime sleepiness, depression, and QOL in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. In this study, the timing of the bright light intervention was tailored to each individual’s circadian chronotype.
The history of light therapy in hospital physiotherapy and medicine with emphasis on Australia: Evolution into novel areas of practice
Published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 2021
Recent advances in the application of photobiomodulation have been pioneered in Australia, America, Canada, Norway, and Brazil. The advances follow from the understanding of light modulation on human tissues, physiology, and disease obtained by NASA (Whelan, 2002) in the 1970s when wounds that would not heal in microgravity, were shown to heal under the influence of light in the experimental hydroponic units of the space shuttle. These findings led to NASA spinoff technology and the development of the WARP 10 LED device (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090002502.pdf). The understanding of the mechanisms of action and the effect of various wavelengths, energy, modulation frequency, and other parameters of light treatment has improved the outcomes of light therapy and has led to increasingly successful clinical therapy trials. These trials have included the use of photobiomodulation to treat: chronic neck pain (Chow, Johnson, Lopes-Martins, and Bjordal, 2009); lymphedema (Smoot et al., 2015); arthritis (Alfredo et al., 2018); and muscle performance (Ferraresi, Huang, and Hamblin, 2016).