There are always new wellness treatments, but should we believe the hype?
Praveen Arany, associate professor of oral biology and biomedical engineering and surgery at the University at Buffalo, examines one.
Dr. Arany trained as a dentist, oral pathologist, and biomedical engineer. He served as an Assistant Clinical Investigator at NIDCR/NIH, Bethesda, from 2012 to 2015. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo, NY. He has 6 patents, over 150 scientific publications with over 10000 citations, and an h-index of 40. His work has been featured in many mainstream media highlights in over 70 countries. He has received numerous awards recognizing his research contributions, including the Young Investigator National Institutes of Health and Wound Healing Society, Horrace Furomoto American Society for Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, and the Theodore Maiman Award from the Academy of Laser Dentistry. He has been invited to speak in various national and international forums, reviews for over 75 scientific journals, serves on nine journal editorial boards, including associate editor in four, and reviews grants for national and international funding agencies. He is the immediate past president of the World & North American Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy, Chair of the PBM group in SPIE and Optica (OSA), and Chair-elect of Lasers Biophotonics Group, International Association of Dental Research.
Light Treatments – Myths and Facts
Red light treatments are gaining much attention on social media and popular press. The ability to counter the age-related skin ailments and improve overall wellness has become very popular. Moreover, the ready availability of several light devices adds to the strong potential for this innovative treatment in improving our lives. A major question that is being asked is if this is a legitimate field or simply hype.
The field of low dose, non-heating light treatments is termed Photobiomodulation Therapy. There has been major progress in the field recently in both lab research as well human clinical trials. Studies in cell culture outline several light-activated molecules that are capable of therapeutic benefits. This parallels the ability of the human body to visualize our environment with visible light using specialized structures in our eye. Data analyzed by multiple scientific professional societies namely, Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer, International Society for Oral Oncology, World and North American Association for Photobiomodulation therapy have highlighted the efficacy of light treatments in supportive cancer care. This implies every cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy, radiation therapy or bone marrow-stem cell transplants will benefit from light treatments that can reduce cancer treatment complications.
Besides these supportive cancer care treatments, there are several studies that have focused on the use of light treatments to increase hair growth, improve skin tone and reduce aging-associated changes. LED devices are very popular especially for home use and very large treatment modes such as beds or canopies. Laser devices, on the other hand, are usually focused probes or fibers that are used in a clinical setting to deliver light treatments. Many of these studies use red light while others have explored other colors such as blue, green, and infrared among others. There have been no reports of untoward incidences when light treatment is used in an appropriate manner at the right dose ranges. Overall, light treatment is an attractive non-invasive, non-pharmacological approach that can benefit human health and wellness.
Read More:
[The Conversation] – Red light therapy shows promise for pain relief, inflammation and skin conditions – but other claims might be hyped
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