Regulatory Approval & Reimbursement
The Exablate system manufactured by Insightec is approved in Europe and in the US for treating tremor-dominant Parkinsons disease. In November 2021, it also earned approval in the US for treating additional movement disorders associated with Parkinsons disease, including mobility, rigidity and dyskinesia. We recommend that patients talk with the treatment site for questions about insurance coverage under Medicare, as some treatment sites are now being reimbursed by Medicare. Most commercial companies are not currently covering this procedure.
Infrared Light And Parkinsons Disease: Is There A Connection
Parkinsons Disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects neurons in the brain and their ability to regulate dopamine. This can cause difficulties with muscle rigidity, speech, mobility, tremors, and many other areas of functioning. While there are medications that can help, there is currently no cure for Parkinsons.
The disease usually progresses as mobility and speech become further impaired.
However, there has been some interesting research into treating Parkinsons with infrared light. Multiple researchers have found beneficial effects of Near Infrared light for the treatment of Parkinsons .
These studies found that NIR is neuroprotective . However, many of these studies involved intercranial NIR, meaning that surgery was performed to allow NIR to penetrate the cranium or skull. However, a recent study by Stone et al found that even using light on the body and excluding the head produced neuroprotective factors , leading them to believe that the immune system is also involved in the benefits of NIR for Parkinsons. Researchers also found that there were no side effects for patients receiving the NIR.
Stone, J, Johnstone, D, Mitrofanis, J. 2013. The helmet experiment in Parkinsons disease: An observation of the mechanism of neuroprotection by near infra-red light. Proceedings of the 9th World Association for Laser Therapy Congress, WALT 2012
Medication Versus Blue Light
Although many different pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies have been introduced to reduce sleep problems in Parkinsons disease, their efficiency remains limited. Sleep medication often leads to side effects and sometimes even worsening of the symptoms. Blue light is more effective in regulating the biological clock compared to traditional polychromatic white light boxes. The light glasses used emit blue light via integrated LED light sources with a wavelength of approximately 468 nm at a light intensity of 35 40 Lux at 1.5 cm from the eyes .
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Mechanism Of Action: How Near Infrared Promotes Neurogenesis
The ways in which near infrared promotes neurogenesis are multi-fold. There is evidence that near infrared light exerts a hormetic effect, acting as an adaptive or positive stressor. Another example of a hormetic effect is that exhibited by phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables, which act as antioxidants by paradoxically stimulating oxidative damage via a pro-oxidant mechanism. This in turn up-regulates our endogenous antioxidant defense system. Similarly, near infrared light activates cellular stress response systems by targeting a key enzyme in the electron transport chain which is responsible for mitochondrial-based energy production called cytochrome c oxidase, an enzyme that is fundamental to the cellular bioenergetics of nerve cells .
By accepting light in the near infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, this enzyme induces a change in the electrochemical potential of the mitochondrial membrane, jump-starting production of the cellular energy currency called adenosine triphosphate and causing a mild burst in the synthesis of reactive oxygen species . As a result, downstream signaling pathways are triggered which induce reparative and neuroprotective mechanisms, including neurogenesis, the creation of new synapses, and brain-based antioxidant and metabolic effects .
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How Does Nir Work To Neuroprotect
The mechanisms that underpin NIr-induced neuroprotection are not entirely clear, although they appear to operate in at least two different biological levels. First, NIr acts at a cellular level, activating intracellular cascades that ultimately contribute to the survival of the target, and possibly neighboring, cells and/or stimulating neurogenesis. Second, NIr appears capable of triggering systemic protective mechanisms this presumably involves as yet unidentified circulating cellular or humoral factors that can transduce protective effects to the brain .
The putative NIr protective mechanisms in the brain. Direct NIr stimulation of the mitochondria of the damaged neurons or endothelial cells. This stimulation would repair the damage leading to neuronal protection. NIr may also stimulate neurogenesis in the hippocampus and/or synaptogenesis in the damaged neurons indirect stimulation via circulating immune cells and/or bone marrow stem cells leading to neuronal protection. The latter is similar to the so-called abscopal effect in the treatment of cancer metastasis. We suggest that the primary mechanism is the direct effect, of neurons and/or of endothelial cells, while the systemic indirect effect forms a secondary supportive mechanism.
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What Is Blue Light Therapy
Blue light therapy is a form of phototherapy that harnesses natural violet or blue light to treat conditions on or just underneath the skin. This type of light therapy can even become photodynamic when blue light is used to activate a light-sensitive drug used to address a specific condition or problem.
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Is It Available To Me
There are infrared light sources on the market that you can buy in a specialty store or on the internet. These however, are not the same as the light sources that are used in a clinical study environment. They may or may not prove helpful to people with Parkinson’s suffering from sleep disturbances, and should only be used after seeking input from your physician.
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What Parkinsons Locks Away
Parkinsons is both a neurological and movement disorder which occurs when brain cells producing dopamine slowly begin to die off.When dopamine levels get too low, neurons start to fire more randomly, leading to the classic symptoms of Parkinsons tremour, rigidity and/or stiff muscles, slowness of movement and unstable posture.Additionally, patients may experience problems sleeping, decreased sense of smell, depression or anxiety and problems with more typical brain functions such as planning, making decisions or paying attention.
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What Has Been The Experience Of Persons With Parkinsons Symptoms Who Have Been Using The Vielight Gamma Device
Thus far, over sixty persons who listened to my interview on the Vielight device purchased the neuro gamma device using the 10% coupon code Dr. Lim provided to listeners of my Parkinsons Recovery Radio Show interview. Those who acquired the device were invited to return the device to the company after using it for six months if it did not offer relief from their symptoms they were looking for and receive an 80% refund.
More information is available here:
The company reported to me that 10% of the Neuro Gamma unites were returned. One loose estimate of effectiveness is that approximately 90% of users are satisfied it helps address some symptoms. The odds are certainly in your favor that the device will offer relief from symptoms. Know also that it clearly does not help everyone.
I have also heard from a member of my audience who lives in Ecuador who is connected with a wide community of persons with Parkinsonâs symptoms. He reports that virtually all users experienced welcome relief from some symptoms. For some, the most pronounced results were seen in the initial 4 months or so, after which the improvements tended to level off.
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What Parkinson’s Takes Away
Parkinsons is both a neurological and movement disorder which occurs when brain cells producing dopamine slowly begin to die off.When dopamine levels get too low, neurons start to fire more randomly, leading to the classic symptoms of Parkinsons tremour, rigidity and/or stiff muscles, slowness of movement and unstable posture.Additionally, patients may experience problems sleeping, decreased sense of smell, depression or anxiety and problems with more typical brain functions such as planning, making decisions or paying attention.
Aids Daytime Sleepiness And Other Sleep Disorders
Humans rest and wake based on a daily cycle called the circadian rhythm. Both light and melatonin play a role in the regularity of the cycle. Many people with PD suffer from sleep disturbances. It is thought that NIr may play a role in improving healthy sleep patterns.3
People with Parkinson’s often experience excessive daytime sleepiness, general fatigue, nighttime sleep disturbances, and depression all of which can affect healthy sleep and the circadian rhythm. According to research reported in the February 2017 JAMA Neurology Journal, light therapy significantly reduced daytime sleepiness, improved sleep quality, decreased overnight awakenings, improved daytime alertness and activity level, and improved motor symptoms in people with Parkinson’s.6
Different kinds of light therapy have been used effectively for other sleep, psychiatric, and medical conditions for decades. NIr continues to be studied in the clinical setting in order to determine how it can best be applied in treating Parkinson’s and other medical conditions. Long-term, large scale controlled studies will help to better evaluate the efficacy of NIr as way to mitigate symptoms as well as possibly slow or limit or reverse disease progression.
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Groundbreaking Trial/red Light Therapy For Parkinsons
reduces symptoms and improves GUT microbiome
A groundbreaking trial led by co-ordinator of photomolecular research at the Australasian Research Institute, Dr Ann Liebert, has found that infrared light therapy for Parkinsons disease appears to reduce symptoms and improve the gut microbiome.
This is the first known trial worldwide to demonstrate changes in the human gut microbiome following light therapy.
The studys findings, which will be published in The Journal of Photochemistry & Photobiology, B: Biology, offer a potential ray of hope for the approximately 80 000 Australians and 10 million people worldwide who are facing a long, slow decline from a progressive neurodegenerative disease. This number of Parkinsons sufferers is only expected to increase in the future with the worlds ageing population and, chillingly, the recently hypothesised link between contracting COVID-19 and an increased risk of Parkinsons disease.
In this video interview, Professor Hosen Kiat, cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of New South Wales and professor of cardiology at Macquarie University, discusses the significance of the studys findings and its relevance for Parkinsons disease as well as for many other chronic health conditions including obesity, heart disease, autoimmune diseases and cancers.
The laser that was used in the trial can be found here:
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Scientists Discover Neural Regeneration Is Possible
In the 1960s, these postulates of the old neurobiology were disproven when Joseph Altman and colleagues performed an experiment where radioactively labelled thymidine, one of the nucleotide base pairs that makes up DNA, was incorporated into a brain area called the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and integrated into the genetic material of what was later confirmed via electron microscopy to be dividing neurons . In essence, this illustrated that neurons were undergoing mitosis, a process of cell division where genetically identical daughter cells are created, and showed that adult neurogenesis is possible.
This all should serve as a beacon of hope for patients experiencing the ravages of neurodegenerative disease, as it may mean that epigenetics, or the way gene expression changes based on lifestyle factors, may lend itself to neurogenesis and the reversal of these scourges of mankind. For example, researchers state that an enriched environment, learning, exercise, exposure to different odorant molecules, and drugs such as antidepressants, steroids, and alcohol can all favorably or unfavorably impact neurogenesis . These newfound revelations are being used in fact as an impetus to find cures for a laundry list of neurodegenerative diseases .
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Cellular And Molecular Mechanisms Of Lllt
LLLT uses low-powered laser light in the range of 1-1000 mW, at wavelengths from 632-1064 nm, to stimulate a biological response. These lasers emit no heat, sound, or vibration. Instead of generating a thermal effect, LLLT acts by inducing a photochemical reaction in the cell, a process referred to as biostimulation or photobiomodulation. Photo-biology works on the principle that, when light hits certain molecules called chromophores, the photon energy causes electrons to be excited and jump from low-energy orbits to higher-energy orbits. In nature, this stored energy can be used by the system to perform various cellular tasks, such as photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis. Numerous examples of chromophores exist in nature, such as chlorophyll in plants, bacteriochlorophyll in blue-green algae, flavoproteins, and hemoglobin found in red blood cells. The respective colors of chromophores are determined by the part of the spectrum of light they absorb: chlorophyll is green, flavoprotein is yellow, and hemoglobin is red .
Illustration of mitochondrion, as well as of the electron transport chain and oxidative metabolism.
Complex IV is the principal chromophore involved in low-level light therapy. It has 2 copper centers and 2 heme prosthetic groups. Cytochrome c is oxidized and oxygen is reduced to water during respiration.
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Desynchronization Of The Circadian Rhythm In Parkinsons Disease
PD patients are prone to desynchronization of their biological clock due to various factors that will be discussed in this section. The neurodegenerative process in PD leading to dopamine depletion is one of the underlying causes, since recent research links dopamine directly to the circadian rhythm . Striatal dopamine metabolism seems to be regulated by clock proteins such as PER2 . Reciprocally, stimulation of dopamine receptors affects the rhythm of expression of clock genes such as PER1 and PER2 in the striatum . Dopamine also regulates the rhythmic expression of melanopsin in retinal ganglion cells, thereby influencing the entrainment of the circadian rhythm by light .
In many patients with PD, factors hampering the SCN input contribute to desynchronization of the circadian rhythm. Firstly, exposure and sensitivity to zeitgebers decrease. Retinal illumination decreases in the elderly due to pupillary miosis and reduced crystalline lens light transmission, especially of short wavelengths . This leads to partial light deprivation of the SCN and pineal gland. Additionally, PD patients, just like many elderly patients, may be more inclined to stay indoors due to motor problems or a decreased postural balance and expose themselves less to environmental light and physical activities . Entrainment of the circadian rhythm is thwarted by a decreased exposure to zeitgebers.
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Clinical Significance Of Light Therapy
LT as a noninvasive and convenient treatment have been proved to be effective not only in PD but also for other conditions . Motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms including depression, sleep, sleep disturbance, excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and anxiety can affect quality of life of patients. It will be of clinical significance to use LT to treat PD patients to improve motor and non-motor symptoms and improve their quality of life. However, the overall change in UPDRS III score was about 4 to 5, while the quality-of-life score did not change. We speculate that the possible reason for this result was that the quality-of-life score may reflect the quality of life of the previous month, which cannot reflect the effect of LT in time. Longer follow-up is needed to determine the impact of LT on quality of life. Further research may help to verify this hypothesis.
Diy Helmets Sent Around Australia
The Dorset Community Shed started making its own light bucket helmets last year after hearing of peoples success using the lights.
Mervyn Chilcott said the shed has made 78 buckets since last April and has more on order.
We start off with a rubbish bin, cut the top off and line it with LED lights that we bring in from China, he said.
Theyve gone all over Tasmania and different parts of Australia and they are definitely making a difference in the quality of life.
They mightnt be curing Parkinsons, but theyre certainly giving quality of life to people with Parkinsons and other people with brain disorders.
Experts warn red light treatment should not be used without consulting with a health professional first.
And even though it will take time before the results are known, those using the lights said they will keep using them anyway.
With the work thats now being done on using light therapy, I think it will open up much broader opportunities and possibilities for the medical profession that havent yet been discovered, Mr Burr said.
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Near Infrared Chronic Intracranial Illumination For Neuroprotection In Parkinsons Disease
Objective/Rationale: The treatment of Parkinsons Disease is based on medication and on surgical procedures. These therapies alleviate symptoms but do not change the evolution of the disease, which is a progressive degeneration of the neurons producing dopamine in the brain. This degeneration is in part due to an abnormal functioning of the mitochondrias that produce energy in these neurons. There is evidence that infrared light can counteract this mitochondrial dysfunction.
Project Description: We will develop a prototype to deliver continuously into patients brains infrared light to slow down the loss of these dopaminergic neurons by improving their mitochondrial function. Human application requires checking the safety of the invented devices in laboratory pre-clinical models. An implantable prototype is being assembled from parts already made by industrial companies for deep brain stimulation. It will be implanted in models to check the safety of the surgical procedure and the long term tolerance of this device. The proof of principle of the therapeutic effect also has to be made. We will implant the device in models rendered parkinsonian by administration of the neurotoxin MPTP and observe the evolution of this parkinsonian syndrome under the effect of this intracranial illumination.
Not A Mainstream Treatment
Those in the profession of medically directed home care have long known that light can elevate mood, help restore sleep patterns, and introduce energy into the homes of people facing chronic and debilitating conditions. The advancement of light-related therapies shows the potential of a new way for us to help people facing Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers, and perhaps other conditions yet to be discovered.
This is still not considered a mainstream treatment, said Christina Hahn, RN, MSN and Care Manager Supervisor for SeniorBridge. But if and when it becomes one, we can assist with therapy sessions in and outside the home in accordance with the doctors orders.
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