Light Cures in Western Medicine

Western medicine has only just begun to recognize the significance of the way light influences the regulation of the body's biological clock. It is only recently that some Western medicine practitioners have come to support certain light therapy treatments.

Different kinds of light therapy are used to cure or improve various physical and mental health problems. Bright Light Therapy, Narrow-Ban UVB Phototherapy and Photodynamic Therapy are a few that are currently being used in conjunction with Western medicine.

Bright Light Therapy

• Many medical centers use light to treat sleep and mood disorders. Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD) is a type of depression that occurs in winter, and a non-invasive treatment called Bright Light Therapy is often successfully used to treat it. A light box emits an intense light that travels into your eye and to your retinas, where it's transmitted by nerve impulses to your pineal gland, which controls melatonin secretion. Melatonin is the primary pineal hormone, and researchers have found that people with SAD are suffering from a seasonal decrease in melatonin secretion. Bright Light Therapy helps regulate it.

Narrow-Band UVB

• Narrow-Band UVB Phototherapy is an effective treatment used by many dermatologists for the treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis and vitiligo. A series of thirty or more treatments can cause psoriasis to go into remission for a period of time. A special bulb emits light of a certain wavelength that has a positive effect on the afflicted skin. When Narrow-Band UVB light is used to treat vitiligo, it helps to repigment cells. It's often the first treatment doctors will choose for vitiligo because of its overall safety and effectiveness. A large, human-size light unit is often used to treat the entire body of a vitiligo sufferer, because it's a genetic (often inherited) disease that is not always limited to a confined area of the skin.

Photodynamic Therapy

• Western medicine sometimes uses Photodynamic Therapy to treat localized cancers. This treatment involves drugs combined with light to kill cancer cells. The light only reaches areas on or under the skin, so the areas that are exposed to the light are the only places where the treatment works. Among the benefits of Photodynamic Therapy are that it has no long-term side effects if given correctly, and it's not as invasive as surgery. It can also be given frequently to the same area. This treatment isn't exactly common, but a few treatment centers do offer it. Many clinical trials that study the effects of Photodynamic Therapy are currently underway .