Sunday, April 10, 2011

LASER (LED)THERAPY – ITS MEDICAL USES



WHAT IS LASER?
The term laser is an acronym for “LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION”.
Ordinary light, such as that from a light bulb, has many wavelengths and spreads in all directions. Laser light, on the other hand, has a specific wavelength. It is focused in a narrow beam and creates a very high-intensity light. Because lasers can focus very accurately on tiny areas, they can be used for very precise surgical work or for cutting through tissue (in place of a scalpel).

Laser Therapy is therefore any treatment that uses intense beams of light to precisely treat tissue pathology in the body of humans or animals. The laser light beam is generated from radiation sources so small and safe, that it poses no health risks to the patient or medical team.

The laser is used for many medical purposes and because the laser beam is so small and precise, it enables doctors to safely treat tissues without injuring the surrounding area.

Lasers may be used to remove growth or cauterize blood vessels. They may also be used for eye surgery. In essence, laser surgery is a medical procedure that uses laser light to remove diseased tissues or treat bleeding blood vessels. It may also be used for cosmetic purposes, such as removing wrinkles, tattoos, or birthmarks.

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is a medical and veterinary treatment that uses low-level lasers or light emitting diodes (LED) to alter cellular function.

Medicine and especially Dentistry have found many new applications for diode lasers. The shrinking size of the units and their increasing user friendliness makes them very attractive to doctors for minor soft tissue procedures. The 800 nm – 980 nm units have a high absorption rate for hemoglobin and thus make them ideal for soft tissue applications, where good hemostasis is necessary.

Medical areas that employ lasers include:
  • Angioplasty
  • Cancer diagnosis and treatment
  • Cosmetic applications such as laser hair removal and tattoo removal.
  • Dermatology
  • Lithotripsy
  • Mammography
  • Medical Imaging
  • Microscopy
  • Ophthalmology (includes Lasik and Laser Photo-coagulation)
  • Optical Coherence Tomography
  • Prostatectomy
  • Surgery
In recent times, there has been a lot of research into the healing effects of light on our bodies. Therapeutic light has many beneficial effects on the human body, amongst which are:-
 
  • Promotion of better mental clarity.
  • Improvement of mood and reduction of depression.
  • Improvement of energy levels.
  • Improvement of learning ability in children, reduction of attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
  • Anti-aging and facial lifting effects.
  • Lowering of blood pressure.
  • Strengthening of the immune system.
  • Improvement and protection of vision.
  • Prevention and cure for a host of diseases.
Various forms of light therapies have been around since ancient times. Modern light medicine received its greatest boost in the USA from the pioneering work of an Indian physician named Dinshah Ghadiali. He got his start in light medicine in India after a young woman with severe diarrhea caused by colitis was rapidly cured after light from a kerosene lantern, passed through an indigo-colored glass bottle, was shone onto her. The woman was also helped by drinking milk that had been in an indigo bottle left out in the sun, with the milk apparently taking on the healing vibrations of that color of light. 

Dinshah did a great deal of research and clinical trials into the use of color light for healing after moving to New York in 1911, and he trained over 800 professionals between 1920 and 1924. Over the next 20 years, his group amassed many thousands of successful case studies showing the remarkable power of light healing for a very wide range of human diseases.
 
Mechanism of Action – How does low-level laser therapy (LLLT - LED) work?  
The effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) are photo-chemical, like photosynthesis in plants. Red or near infrared light can effect cell membrane permeability and aid the production of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) thereby providing the cell with more energy which in turn means the cell is in optimum condition to play its part in a natural healing process. Stimulation of the mitochondrion in the cells leads to increase production of ATP resulting in an increase in reactive oxygen species, which influences redox signalling, affecting intracellular homeostasis, or the proliferation of cells, leading to healing of previously damaged tissues. The final enzyme in the production of ATP by the mitochondria, cytochrome c oxidase, accepts energy from laser-level lights leading to the cell multiplication effect.

The typical wavelength of the most common low-level laser therapy (LLLT - LED) lasers is in the range 600 – 1000 nm (red to near infrared)

Because of the low power energy of LLLT, the effects are not thermal and do not cause heating, and therefore cannot cause damage to living tissue.

Laser therapy devises were developed to treat all forms of sports injuries, and musculoskeletal conditions, release and control pain, provide improved wound healing and for laser acupressure without the use of needles. Laser therapy is a highly effective and non-invasive form of treatment. The patient feels no pain. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has proven to be very effective for many conditions that have not responded well to other forms of treatment.

Today light therapy has come of age and is coming into mainstream medicine, bringing to fore Dinshah’s vision.

Here are a few examples of recent research findings and treatments for some human ailments:
 
Light Therapy for Treating Cancer:
Small tumors in the lungs, esophagus and some body cavities can be destroyed without the negative effects of chemotherapy by using FDA-approved light therapy. It works in the following way – First, a chemical that sensitizes cancer cells to light is injected into the body. After waiting for between 24 to 36 hours, a selected wavelength of light is applied to the tumor, which then dies leaving healthy surrounding cells unharmed. There is also some evidence that this treatment stimulates the immune system to kill other cancer cells.

Similar to this, is Laser Surgery, which is a form of precise surgery that uses light of high intensity and narrow beam to remove cancer or precancerous growths or to relieve symptoms of cancer. It is used most often to treat cancers on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs. This form of laser therapy is often given through a thin tube called an endoscope. An endoscope can be inserted in openings in the body to treat cancer or precancerous growths inside the trachea (windpipe), esophagus, stomach, or colon. Laser therapy causes less bleeding and damage to normal tissue than standard surgical tools, and there is a lower risk of infection. However, laser therapy is extremely expensive and the effects of the surgery may not be permanent, so the surgery may have to be repeated.

In most cases laser surgery for cancer is usually combined with other treatments such as conventional surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.
 
Light therapy for helping bone marrow transplants – A NASA initiative:
“A device using specialized light emitting diodes (LED), based on NASA technology for plant growth in space, is continuing to show promise as a treatment to aid healing of bone marrow transplant patients ... Biologists have found that cells exposed to near-infrared light – that is, energy just outside the visible range – from LEDs grow 150 to 200 % faster than those cells not stimulated by such light. The light arrays increase energy inside cells that speed up the healing process.”
 
Light used for treating depression:

“A study commissioned by the American Psychiatric Association and led by a psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has found that light therapy effectively treats mood disorders, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other depressive disorders. A report of the study, which appeared April 1 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, also finds that the effects of light therapy, also known as phototherapy, are comparable to those found in many clinical studies of antidepressant drug therapy for these disorders.
 
Wounds heal faster with light:

Infra-red light is most of what comes to us from the sun. It is deeply heating and is what is used to keep the French fries hot at McDonalds. In a recent 2008 study, wounded rats healed significantly faster than controls without light therapy, when polarized (uni-directional) infra-red light was applied to their wounds. Other studies show just what kinds of light speed healing. It seems that red-orange visible light and invisible infra-red light between 820 nm and 980nm work best. This is the range of what is often called in medicine as cold laser which refers to the use of low-intensity or low levels of laser light (LLLT – Low-level laser therapy). Cold laser therapy can reduce pain and inflammation. Cold laser treatment (LLLT) is thought to help some types of pain, inflammation, and wound healing. These lasers are used directly on or over the affected area.
 
Laser treatment in Dermatology:
Laser therapy – for both the management of birth marks, skin disorders (like vitiligo), tattoo removal, hair removal and cosmetic resurfacing and rejuvenation and also for the treatment of skin cancer and precancerous growths, is usually performed by specialists in dermatology.

DNA is highly light sensitive:
Many studies have documented that DNA, the double-helix molecule that holds all our genetic information and guides all growth and healing in the body, is highly responsive to light. In a paper from Kiel University in Germany, N. Schwalb described how light applied to DNA molecules makes them light up, or fluoresce, in distinctive ways. She concludes that laser light could be used to directly recognize and possibly repair many genetic diseases.

CONCLUSION:

Specific tests and protocols for LLLT show that it is effective in relieving short-term pain for rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, acute and chronic neck pain, tendinopathy and possibly chronic joint disorders. There is also a lot of evidence supporting the fact that LLLT is useful in the treatment of low back pain, dentistry and wound healing.

Author: Ola Suyee



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