Red lights on the brain

Memory

The New Yorker has reviewed a non-fiction book written by the author of Still Alice.

Here’s the link.

It is a really interesting article, and definitely worth a read.

Kevin from NZ

This is for Kevin in New Zealand who left a message a few days ago. Unfortunately your email addressed bounced when I tried to send a response.

Can you email me on redlightsonthebrain@gmail.com?

LED strips vs individual LEDs

I’ve had a query about LED strips and individual LED lights. Both have their place.

I want to buy a light hat:

If you are thinking of investing hundreds of dollars into a commercial transcranial red and near infrared light device, make sure that you select a device made with individual LED lights.

Exercise and sleep in Alzheimer’s

The previous blog looked at a journal article entitled: Effects of exercise on sleep in neurodegenerative disease, and focussed on its comments about sleep, exercise and Parkinson’s disease. This post looks at what the article has to say about exercise, sleep and Alzheimer’s disease.

Exercise and sleep in Parkinson’s

Hot off the research press is a journal article with a self-explanatory title: Effects of exercise on sleep in neurodegenerative disease.

It starts by summarising the main things that affect sleep in people with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases as being:

damage to the sleep-wake system in the brain, that affects the circadian rhythm and disrupts normal sleeping and waking patterns; and
“secondary mechanisms” which include a raft of things like medication side effects, having to get up to the toilet during the night, poor sleep “hygiene”, sleep-related breathing disorders, and the environment in which you try to sleep.

Blood glucose and red light

There’s been increasing interest in photobiomodulation and muscles.

Researchers from Brazil have been looking further into this, curious to see what happens to blood glucose (often called blood sugar) when a combination of red and near infrared light is shone into muscles. Their interest was piqued by reports that photobiomodulation can help lower blood glucose levels in people with diabetes. Blood glucose levels stay high in diabetes and that causes all sorts of problems for the rest of the body.