Red and near infrared lights – can they help degenerative neurological diseases?
Tag: Parkinson’s Disease
A progressive neurodegenerative disease, the causes of Parkinson’s are not fully known. It tends to start later in life, and while everyone knows about the tremor and difficulties moving, it has many other symptoms that make life difficult. Prof John Mitrofanis’ research team are leaders in understanding the effect of red and near inrared light on the damaged neurons in Parkinson’s.
The online conference, Insight into Parkinson’s, has been an annual event for eight years now. It was conceived by the team at PD Warrior, and brings together a range of speakers.
I’m honoured to be on the speaker panel this year, and I’ll be talking about the way transcranial photobiomodulation (red and near infrared lights on the brain) can slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
The conference lasts for three days, 11th – 13th April 2025, and the speaker variety is wide and interesting. It is well worth joining in.
A few days ago I wrote a blog post on the Well Red website about people with Parkinson’s disease using the Duo Coronet on a daily basis for five years now, and sharing my delight at how well they are doing. Not long after the post was published, I had an email from a Coronet-owner who confessed to no longer using his lights, because it didn’t give instant results and because it was difficult to sustain motivation.
I thought I would share my response, because it is relevant to anyone wearing any kind of transcranial light device, be it a home-made Cossack or a Duo Coronet.
Think about why you clean your teeth every day.
You clean your teeth every day, not because you expect your smile to be suddenly transformed into full film star glory, but because you want to keep your teeth chomping on apples and chewing your favourite meal until the day you depart this world. You want your teeth to be healthy and in good working order – forever.
It’s the same with your brain. You want that part of your body to maintain the best function possible – forever.
Having red and near infrared lights shining on your head every day keeps your brain in good working order, as the Well Red blog post demonstrates. Daily light use doesn’t turn your brain into a second Einstein, nor does it instantly cure everything, but it protects your brain and slows down any degenerative process that might be lurking in the neuronal undergrowth.
Think about using your transcranial light device with or straight after breakfast, and then with or straight after your evening meal. Linking the device use with an event that is essentially concreted into your daily routine makes it easier to keep it going.
There’s another very good reason to link your light use with meals, as this increases the ability of the mitochondria to respond effectively. Check out this earlier blog post for more about the relationship between lights and food.
So if you have a light device and you’ve stopped using it for whatever reason, then go find it, dust it down, plug it in and bung it on your head right now. And keep doing that every day, preferably twice daily.
Thanks to Alex Padurariu on Unsplash for the wonderful photo of the toothbrush and to Mikael Kristenson for the arresting image of equine dentition.
When Rajeev Chaurasia’s father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Rajeev put his creativity and DIY skills to use in making a Cossack light hat for him.
Rajeev has devised new ways to style it and make it easier to construct.
This marvellous video – the work of Rajeev, his daughter Renee and his friend Karl Mascarenhas – shows some very clever ideas for making a Cossack light hat at home. Rajeev, Renee and Karl have kindly given permission to the blog to host their video.
Watch this video to see a new Cossack style being made.
Some say that a red light source must be able to shine from one side of your hand to the other otherwise it won’t have the grunt to penetrate through the skull and into the brain tissue.
For amusement, we put that to the test. We took one of the individual 670nm LEDs used in the Well Red Coronet* and tested it out.
For the detailed results, click here. Spoiler alert: It worked magnificently.
So what about the red lights in LED strips that we use in Cossacks?
Cossack light hat. Click on the DIY menu item for instructions.
I’ve been testing out a strip of 670nm LED strip. I masked the lights on the LED strip and only left 4 little LED lights shining. In the dark, they looked pretty bright, but when I put my hand over them, I couldn’t see any red light coming through. So I can say categorically that 4 little LEDs on a red LED strip don’t pass the Hand Test.
However, in the Cossack we use a full 5 metre LED strip just around the outside of the frame, so that’s an awful lot of individual LEDs shining onto your head. It is very possible that the light from a clump of LEDs from LED strips will penetrate through the hand.
I’d suggest, though, that you don’t worry about this concept, and just get cracking on making your Cossack. It may be home-made, but I’ve had consistent positive feedback from Cossack-wearers all over the world.
Cossacks can and do help. As long as they are worn, of course!
* For interest, there are 40 of these LEDs in the Coronet.
Don’t discount the indirect effect of red and near infrared light.
I’ve had a number of queries lately about the importance of penetration of red and near infrared light into the brain. The questions stem from an assumption that red and near lights will only be effective if they act directly onto the cell. This assumption isn’t correct. Red light doesn’t rely on just one method to be effective.
Red lights on the brain 