Tag: DIY red light hat

You can make your own light hat, or have someone make it for you. The information is available on the blog. If you are uncertain, fill in the “contact” form and ask.

Cossack movie update

Make your own Cossack red light hat.

Making the Cossack Hat Frame*

Michael provided additional information for the DIY Cossack movie.

MEASURE THE CIRCUMFERENCE.

Take a generous length of the hat padding being used, and

  • Fit around the head like a head band.
  • Adjust to fit comfortably around the head and stick together with adhesive tape .
  • Don’t cut the foam yet!
  • Mark the join,
  • Add 2cm to make the band a bit looser, then
  • Cut the padding and tape the ends together to form a circle.

Adjust this head band for easy slip-on comfort and  for it to have a jaunty tilt towards the back of head. Once satisfied with this, measure the final length. This is the final basic circumference for the preparation of the wire mesh frame.

MEASURE THE HEIGHT OF THE HAT.

Like the circumference, this will depend on the individual.

Typically, 9 squares deep (=120mm) is a good height and allows for either an elastic suspension, or for some 6mm foam pads stuck to the top.

A simple paper or cardboard pattern helps to determine these dimensions.

  • Cut a paper pattern 150mm high and the above circumference.
  • Mark the 9 square(120mm) position, and
  • Tape the pattern into a hat shape.
  • Check the height to the top of the head, and
  • Cut the paper to the height needed to fit a padded top for the hat.

         * Wire ends are sharp and can cause cuts. So please wear gloves!

Red lights preserve brain cells…and make more of ‘em

Prof John Mitrofanis gave an excellent presentation today to clinicians at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

He took the audience through the ten plus years of research into red lights and Parkinson’s in animal models.

Continue reading “Red lights preserve brain cells…and make more of ‘em”

Pulsing light and Alzheimer’s disease

I’ve been reading articles suggesting that Alzheimer’s disease is linked with a disruption of brain wave patterns, especially the gamma waves which are predominant in the brain when we are concentrating and focussed.

One group increased gamma wave activity in Alzheimer’s mice by pulsing light. In this research, it wasn’t the light that was of interest to the researchers, it was the pulse rate. They used 40Hz, in the gamma brainwave frequency range.

Here is a great report about that experiment and it’s implications.

…stimulating neurons to produce gamma waves at a frequency of 40 Hz reduces the occurrence and severity of several Alzheimer’s-associated symptoms in a mouse model of the disease. 

It seems that pulsing the light does more than enable red light to penetrate more deeply into the brain. Pulsing at 40Hz seems to stimulate the brain’s immune and clean-up cells, the microglia to get cracking with brush and pan.

I have visions of microglial cells dancing to the 40 Hz rhythm as they clear up brain rubbish, including the proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer’s – amyloid and tau.

In 40Hz pulsed red light, the brain gets the benefits of the red light action inside the cells, and the benefits of brain-protection activities stimulated by brainwaves responding at 40Hz.

Fascinating stuff, isn’t it.

Meanwhile, if you are feeling worried that your Eliza or Cossack doesn’t pulse, don’t fret. The daily light dose is doing its work. More.

LED lights versus Laser lights

I’ve had a few queries about the use of laser lights. I can understand the allure of a laser, as its coherent light with such total focus is pretty impressive.

LED lights used to be very expensive. In the last decade the costs of LEDs have really dropped, and we can now buy them easily and inexpensively. LED lights are not coherent like lasers – the light from the average LED lights scatters and shines over a bigger area.

Question: For lights on the head, are lasers better than LEDs?

Answer: Nope.

Both have their place, but the previous dominance of laser lights is being whittled away by practicality and safety of LED lights.

For trans-cranial use, you want the red lights to scatter – you want coverage of the lights over the head. You also want to use the lights daily, safely and at home.

Lasers are a pain to use, they come with safety issues and they are not suitable for home use.

LEDs are the best.