Red and near infrared lights – can they help degenerative neurological diseases?
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.
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.
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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?
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.
Continue reading “Red light’s many ways of working”Here’s a new journal article from the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. I’m a co-author, but don’t let that get in the way.
This article looks at the animal and clinical evidence for the use of transcranial and intracranial red and near infrared light devices. There is a lot of detailed information, including and in-depth description of the effect of transcranial red and near infrared lights in people with Parkinson’s disease.
As for which is best – intracranial or transcranial? The verdict is that neither is best on its own. The best is having both working together. It makes sense, having light shining from inside and outside the brain.
Alas, you might be waiting a while before you get access to an intracranial light implant (think DBS with a 670nm LED light), but you can use transcranial lights right now. You can make your own (instructions are here) or look at the Duo Coronet (link is here) .
Meanwhile, have a read…
Reference
Johnstone DM, Hamilton C, Gordon LC, Moro C, Torres N, Nicklason F, Stone J, Benabid AL, Mitrofanis J. Exploring the Use of Intracranial and Extracranial (Remote) Photobiomodulation Devices in Parkinson’s Disease: A Comparison of Direct and Indirect Systemic Stimulations. J Alzheimers Dis. 2021;83(4):1399-1413. doi: 10.3233/JAD-210052. PMID: 33843683.
The discoveries about mitochondria continue to grow.
A while back, it became clear that many neurodegenerative diseases, especially Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, resulted from the cell batteries, the mitochondria, failing to properly power up the cell. This results in the cell being unable to do its job, for example making dopamine. It also results in the early death of the cell.
In 2019 came the stunning news that mitochondria are nomadic. They pop out of cells, plunge into the bloodstream and whizz around, then get out, metaphorically towel themselves dry and pop back into a different cell – possibly in a completely different part of the body.
This ability raised the question of what controls the mitochondrial migration. There must be some signalling system making this happen. One has visions of King Mito barking out orders to mitochondrial minions, who scurry around with their clipboards and spreadsheets…
The signalling system is the next big thing for scientists to understand. It offers vast opportunities for potential treatments and prevention strategies.
Now comes the news that mitochondria act like social creatures. The cosy up to each other, fuse together, split apart, and appear to communicate with each other. Absolutely fascinating!
Here’s a link to a wonderful article in Qantamagazine. It describes very beautifully the implication of a review paper by Martin Picard and Carmen Sandi, who were the first to describe this new feature of mitochondrial behaviour.
Reference:
Martin Picard, Carmen Sandi,The social nature of mitochondria: Implications for human health,
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 120,
2021,Pages 595-610,ISSN 0149-7634,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.04.017.
Red lights on the brain 