abstract-smile-blog

[abstract-smile-blog]

What is Light Therapy?

What is light therapy? Light therapy is a clinical intervention that involves exposing a patient to light. In most instances day light is used. However, in some special conditions other types of artificial light are employed in light therapy. The treatment is administered at certain time of the day with a prescribed duration of time depending on the patient’s condition. To answer the question what is light therapy? One must comprehend light therapy options available.

Light therapy options Apart from the natural sunlight used for the therapy, other types of light therapy options used are: 1).Light box, full spectrum light. 2).Laser light 3).Fluorescent light 4).Light emitting diodes 5).Dichroic lamps

Conditions treated by Light therapy There are several conditions treated by this type of photo therapy. The sun light therapy relies on the visible violet light emitted from the sunlight. The light in the range of 405nm to 420nm is essential in treatment of several skin disorders. Some of the skin orders treated by this light treatment option are as follows. 1).Acne Acne is a skin disorder caused by Propionibacterium acnes. This bacterium does not respond to most convectional acne treatment options available across the clinical dermatology arena. For quite some time sunlight has been used to manage acne effectively. Consequently, this led to intense research that discovered that the violet light found in the sunlight activates Coproporphyrin III that is in propionibacterium to destroy the bacteria. The Coproporphin releases singlet oxygen which is lethal to the acne bacteria. The light in a spectrum of 320 j/cm2 of light inactivates the bacteria making it non-viable. The intense acne therapy is highly effective and after three days of administration, the bacteria in the skin pores are reduced by close to 99.9%. This compared to conventional treatment such as application of BBE or Benzoyl peroxide that takes more than six months with little improvement proves this photo therapy option is effective. Some of the places that this acne light treatment is popular are Canada, Asia and some countries within Europe.

2).Psychotic disorders In some psychiatric clinics, light therapy is employed by the clinicians. The treatment is administered by use of light box. Even though in the US, the light box treatment options has not been licensed up to date, since the concern; what is light therapy? is still not clear. The light boxes are used to control hormonal melatonin timing or levels. The melatonin hormones are a sleep regulator that is activated by darkness and inhibited by darkness. This therapy is used for the following psychotic disorders: 2(i). Non seasonal depression Light therapy has been identified as the modest treatment option for non seasonal depression. The treatment option provides a clinical anti-depressive efficacy. Besides non seasonal depression other conditions that the therapy is effective are bipolar disorder, postpartum depression and major depressive disorder.

2 (a) Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) This condition can be rectified by either light boxes or complete sun light exposure. The sunlight is reflected into the therapy rooms via a computerized mirror device (heliostat).

3). Chronic rhythm sleep disorders. This is a more complex light therapy option that requires accurate timings. Hence, the patient must be exposed at the right time to achieve efficacy. The exposure must be administered immediately after spontaneous awakening. For desirable results the light should be turned on just before the patient wake up. For non 24 hour sleep-wake syndrome the morning light therapy or light stimulation is effective. Additionally for advanced sleep-phase syndrome the evening light stimulation is the recommended option.

What is light therapy safety margin? In most instances, any treatment options safety and efficacy must be weighed. This is to ascertain the clinical benefit in comparison to risks the patients is being exposed to during the treatment. The same applies to light therapy treatment option. Current, phototherapy options are largely considered safe so long as the treatment is administered within the standard parameters. To avert adverse risks light treatments specialists must ascertain if the patient is on photosensitizing medication. Photosensitizing drugs are not compatible to light treatment and should be avoided on patient using the drugs.

To achieve the intended results, certain light therapy option must be administered by specialized clinicians. Self medication is not recommended for option especially laser light as its exposes the patient to high risks. With proper care and management this treatment option is proving effective day by day across the world. For efficacy and acceptance across the clinical field, there are a number of research and clinical trials that are ongoing to adress the concern; What is light therapy? These consultative, extensive and intensive efforts are geared to confirm the benefits of light therapy in patient care and management.