Light Therapies
WHAT IS LIGHT THERAPY?
Light Therapy (also known as Phototherapy, and classically known as Heliotherapy) refers to therapy whereby a person is exposed to a light source - it could be natural, such as sunlight, or artificial, such as low level laser, colour therapy, LEDs or full spectrum lighting. There are many different sources of lighting, each having different effects on the body’s cells.
It’s plausible to accept that light can affect physiological function, given that light is a part of the electro-magnetic spectrum. We readily accept that x-rays, micro-waves, MRIs, radio-therapy affects our body’s function. Similarly, light is also a part of this spectrum of ‘energy’ medicine, which is gaining more attention in recent years.
WHAT IS LIGHT THERAPY USED FOR?
The most commonly known uses for light therapy is for –
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Mood Disorders (especially SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder – a type of depression related to winter season, normal depression, jetlag and insomnia)
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Skin disorders (especially acne, psoriasis, vitilgo and wound healing)
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Neo-natal
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Facial rejuvenation
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Hair grow (in balding of head)
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Pain relief
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Healing chronic soft tissue injuries
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Immune stimulation
There are many more uses for light therapy, such as for metabolic disturbances, weight loss, breaking addictions, anxiety, Post-Traumatic disorder.
Numerous clinical research articles can be found here to validate the therapeutic effects of light therapy.
HOW DOES LIGHT AFFECT OUR CELLS?
It’s becoming evident by emerging scientific literature that our human bodies need light, just as plants need light to grow and thrive.
Researchers now believe that the 100, 000 + biochemical reactions occurring every second, are no longer due to the mechanical ‘lock and key’ theory of molecules ‘bumping into each other’ randomly, but rather from the action of biophotons ‘exciting’ a molecule sufficiently to cause the reaction.
(Note – a biophoton is a particle of light produced by a biological system).
According to Dan Eden in the paper "The Real Bioinformatics Revolution: Proteins and Nucleic Acids Singing to One Another?" -
“The chemical reaction can only happen if the molecule which is reacting is excited by a photon ... Once the photon has excited a reaction it returns to the field and is available for more reactions... We are swimming in an ocean of light."
WHAT ARE THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF LIGHT?
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Light helps cells produce more ATP (energy)
The discovery that light stimulates the production of our own ‘natural energy’ (ATP) which is required by every cell for healthy functioning explains why light therapy can help in such a wide range of disorders. If cells work more efficiently, all aspects of our physiology is enhanced. Another ‘by-product’ of more ATP is feeling more ‘energized’.
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Light stimulates circulation of blood.
Light stimulates the release of a substance called Nitric Oxide (NO) in our cells, creating improved blood flow. Light also stimulates circulation of blood. It is commonly accepted that lowered circulation relates to poor waste disposal, swellings, lowered nutrition status Light is often used to treat coronary heart conditions, high blood pressure, painful muscles and joints, oedema, cellulite and overweight conditions, all related to poor blood circulation.
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Light encourages cellular repair and healing,
making it useful for treating wounds, aged skin, damaged tissue particularly for chronic injuries.
WHAT IS THE SCIENCE BEHIND LIGHT AFFECTING CELLS?
Here is a more scientific explanation of how our light interacts with on our cellular level –
There are receptors embedded into the membranes of the mitochondria (the ‘factory centres’ for generation of ATP), which are sensitive to light. The most commonly studied photo-sensitive receptor is cytochrome c oxidase, involved in the Kreb’s cycle. This receptor is particularly sensitive to light in the range of 610 to 840 nm (red and nearinfrared light). When these receptors receive photons (light), they become electrically excited, which increases electron transfer and enzyme activity in the mitochondria, which leads to an increased production of ATP (used for all cellular functions).
Einstein’s theory for which he won his only Nobel Prize was for discovering the Photo-Electric Effect, which states that there is the production of electrons or other free carriers when light shines upon a material. Electrons emitted in this manner can be called photoelectrons. This discovery is important in validating the power of light to generate energy (electrons).
Light has also been shown to increase the release of Nitric Oxide in cells, which is known to dilate blood vessels and improve blood flow. In 1968 Furchgott, demonstated the vaso-dilation effects of light in his nitric oxide research which led to his receipt of a Nobel Prize thirty years later in 1998. Nitric oxide also improves cellular communication by transmitting signals throughout the body.
Light absorbed by cells creates mild oxidants – Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) - that leads to gene transcription and then to cellular repair and healing. Read Dr. Hamblin’s article for a more thorough discussion here.
For an excellent article by Dr. Mercola titled ‘The Power of Biological Light in Healing’ click here –
WHAT IS THE BIO PHOTONIC FIELD?
Dr. Mercola explains the concept of Biophotonic field well –
‘Do You Know Where Your Long-Term Memories are Stored?
In modern neuroscience, it is now known that your brain has a number of circuits that explain short-term memory, but there’s no circuitry for long-term memory. And this is where your biophoton field comes into the picture.
What is the Biophoton Field?
In highly simplistic terms, your mental body can be viewed as a highly sophisticated computer that processes, stores and retrieves information, which is then used to regulate your physical body.
It is known in biology that every cell in your body has over 100,000 biochemical reactions per second, all of which must be carefully timed and sequenced with each other. Many (mostly European) scientists have investigated the organizing principle behind this sophisticated dance.
The existence of the biophotons field was proven all the way back in 1974, by Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp. He also proved that biophotons originate from your DNA and that they are laser-like in nature. Dr. Popp developed the biophoton theory to explain their biological role and the ways in which they help control biochemical processes.
So how does it work?
The DNA inside each cell vibrates at a frequency of several billion hertz (which is unfortunately the same range at which modern cell phone communication systems also work). The vibration is created through the coil-like contraction and extension of your DNA -- which occurs several billion times per second -- and every time it contracts, it squeezes out one single biophoton; a light particle.
That photon contains all the information on everything going on in your DNA at that moment. One single biophoton can carry more than four megabytes of information, and relays this information to other biophotons it crosses in the biophoton field outside your body.
All the photons that are emitted from your body communicate with each other in this highly structured light field that surrounds your body, and which is the actual carrier of your long-term memory. This light field also regulates the activity of your metabolic enzymes.
The information transfer on biophotons is bidirectional, which means your DNA sends information out on a photon, and on the same photon the information of all the biophotons from your body is broadcast back to your cells, and to your tubulin, which are light conductive molecules in your connective tissue.
The tubulin, in turn, receives the information-carrying light impulse and conducts it at the speed of light throughout your body, where it is translated inside each cell into activating or inactivating certain metabolic enzymes.’
For reference to the full article, read here.
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about Different Light Therapies.
Safe Natural Effective Therapy
4 Mortlock St, Hamilton Hill,
W. Australia. 6163
Ph - 0437 968 277