The investigation of 68 patients with moderate TBI showed that light therapy statistically significantly altered multiple parameters. Low-level light therapy incorporates near-infrared light and is thought to elicit biostimulation through mitochondrial light absorption. “Some animal models have shown that those effects translate into full response, but it had never been shown in humans. Ours is the first study in moderate traumatic brain injury that the brain perceives light and in a measurable way.” In the single-center, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial, 68 patients with moderate TBI were randomly assigned to receive either low-level light or sham therapy within 72 hours of injury. The treatment was divided into three 20-minute sessions with at least 12 hours between each one.
The study showed a reduction in all symptom scores for patients who received low-level light therapy. The results provide what the researchers note is the first direct evidence that transcranial low-level light therapy targets and engages the neural substrates that may play a role in the pathophysiologic effects of moderate TBI. Given these potential benefits, the investigators believe low-level light therapy has the potential to have a marked clinical effect for these patients.
Read more at: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/937842