Author: RedlightsontheBrain

Redlightsonthebrain is written by Catherine Hamilton, a retired doctor to help people to learn about neurogenerative diseases and the practical, safe and scientifically-based things that can help improve life. Part of this is to provide low-cost access to red light devices, hence the DIY instructions on this blog.

Excellent presentation on PD history & genetics

Here is a link to the Royal Society’s 2018 Francis Crick lecture, delivered by Dr Miratul Muqit. Thanks to one of the blog readers who told me about this excellent lecture, entitled Parkinson’s disease: decoding the mysteries of neurodegeneration.

There is one statement about PD which is completely wrong, and it is relevant to red/near infrared lights. Read on.

Continue reading “Excellent presentation on PD history & genetics”

How do Red and near infrared lights affect the eyes?

A very interesting email arrived today, querying the effect of red LED lights on eyes.

It is all about the wavelength, not the type of light.

Red and near infrared wavelengths are not harmful to the eyes.

In fact, red wavelengths (especially 670nm, a deep red colour) are showing promise as a treatment for Age-related Macular Degeneration, a devastating progressive eye condition.

The lead researcher is Prof Glen Jeffery, professor of neuroscience at University College London.

Here’s a list of Prof Jeffrey’s publications.

And here’s a link to one of his articles.

If you are planning to make your own light hat device, make sure that you purchase red LEDs. There are LED strips available with lots of colours – avoid these as a rainbow isn’t helpful.

You just want red or near infrared wavelengths.

Parkinson’s summary

I wrote the following for someone interested in the effects of red and near infrared lights in Parkinson’s Disease. It is a summary of PD-related redlightsonthebrain blog posts.
If you select the Parkinson’s tag on the blog, you get the posts that refer in some way to PD. https://redlightsonthebrain.blog/tag/parkinsons-disease/
Research findings blog posts are:
1. A summary of the findings of the people with PD using bucket light hats published in a peer reviewed journal.
2. A summary of a 2016 presentation given by Prof John Mitrofanis, an international leader in research on red lights and PD.
Interesting anecdotal blog posts are:
1. On sleep
2. On the subtlety of the effects of transcranial red and near infrared lights

Cossack photos

Some wonderful photos of a recent Cossack construction. The creator put the LED strips on the inside of the Cossack, and this required the use of lots and lots of cable ties.

Fortunately, the creator didn’t cut the ends of the cable ties, making for a very fine porcupine or echidna.

Sincere thanks for permission to post these photos.

Cutting to size:

Connecting:

The perfect Cossack frame:

The LED strip was installed inside (outside is probably easier) and held with cable ties:

It is fabulous!