Transcranial Infrared Stimulation Devices?

[EdenDesjardins]

Does anyone have any experience with transcranial infrared neural stimulation devices? Quite a lot of promising research seems to be taking place in this field. I was inspired by this article : http://dementiaresearchfoundation.org.au/blog/infrared-lasers-treatment-alzheimer’s-disease

My current logic is : pharmaceuticals are expensive and come with a lot of side effects, therefore may not hold the answer and I'm running out of time for my husband. So, I'm looking for alternatives with promise.

 

[cragmaid]

I suspect that this research is a long time away from being of any possible use to human Az sufferers. I am sure it will never be cheaply obtainable. At the present time there is no proven repair for the brain damage causing AZ and other Dementias, merely treatment for symptoms.
I wish it were otherwise but it is, sadly, incurable.

 

[Kevinl]

Here's a quote from the link:

"However, what is unknown from this study is whether this reduction in brain pathology translates into a reduction in symptoms, such as improvements in memory and behaviour"

That to me says they don't know if it will work or not and this bit;

"However one of the major challenges in using this treatment for humans is that the light needs to be able to penetrate through the skull into the brain. While this wasn’t a major challenge in a mouse model, it will be in humans"

Means even if it might work on mice there's currently no way of doing it on humans.
One day a cure will be found and who knows maybe this is it but with words like "unknown and major challenges" it sounds like this one is a way off yet.
Sorry to sound so negative.
K

 

[EdenDesjardins]

Here's a quote from the link:

"However, what is unknown from this study is whether this reduction in brain pathology translates into a reduction in symptoms, such as improvements in memory and behaviour"

That to me says they don't know if it will work or not and this bit;

"However one of the major challenges in using this treatment for humans is that the light needs to be able to penetrate through the skull into the brain. While this wasn’t a major challenge in a mouse model, it will be in humans"

Means even if it might work on mice there's currently no way of doing it on humans.
One day a cure will be found and who knows maybe this is it but with words like "unknown and major challenges" it sounds like this one is a way off yet.
Sorry to sound so negative.
K

Hi Kevinl,

I did read through the article and figured that since a mouse brain is 90% identical to the human brain (http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580427,00.html), it may be a plausible solution. However, you are right -- there are no readily available transcranial infrared helmets from reliable sources. The only one I could find was from Emerson and theirs seems very shoddily constructed.

Here is another study on transcranial photobiomodulation done by Harvard Medical School and Boston University - "Improved Cognitive Function After Transcranial, Light-Emitting Diode Treatments in Chronic, Traumatic Brain Injury: Two Case Reports" - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3104287/

So, I suppose the main idea is getting infrared light to the brain through whatever means.

 

[canary]

You have got to be really careful with so-called treatments for dementia. Most of them are scammers who prey on the desperate

Research is beginning to look at dementia (at last) and there is some interesting stuff around, but TBH, you have got to look at proper research with controls and double-blind testing and a lot of people taking part - not 2 subjects with a lot of emphasis on what the patient thinks and no controls.

I know we all feel helpless in the face of dementia and desperately want to be able to do something, but if a cure (or even the possibility of a cure) gets found you may be sure that it will be blazed all across the media

 

[EdenDesjardins]

I agree with you, canary. Caution should definitely be taken when dealing with this situation but from my experience with my husband(he's in his early stages of dementia) and the research we've done on existing pharmaceuticals - he is extremely reluctant to take them, given the side effects and costs which compile rapidly over time.

I would, however, say that transcranial photobiomodulation shows a bit of promise in this regard but yes, conclusive data is still lacking from the medical research field. I did find quite a few interesting articles on that topic though - http://www.todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/archive/012312p6.shtml / http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24387311 / http://dementiaresearchfoundation.o...uce-alzheimer’s-disease-pathology-brains-mice

I hypothesize that this may not directly solve Alzheimer's but help with the augmentation of cognitive functions, thus, lessening the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's.

 

[EdenDesjardins]

As an update, I notice my husband has stopped waking up in the middle of the night and much to my surprise, he managed to remember to use his Exelon patch every now and then last week without my gentle reminders. If anything, I'd say the memory improvements are subtle but sleepiness after usage of this device is something I can definitely attest to.

---------

From another forum user, whom I find very useful for updating myself and my husband on this bleak plague.


"This article is on near-infrared light for Parkinson's disease but the discussion is relevant for Alzheimer's disease:



Parkinson's disease is a common progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Thus, therapeutic approaches that improve mitochondrial function may prove to be beneficial. Previously, we have documented that near-infrared light via light-emitting diode (LED) treatment was therapeutic to neurons functionally inactivated by tetrodotoxin, potassium cyanide (KCN), or methanol intoxication, and LED pretreatment rescued neurons from KCN-induced apoptotic cell death...






LED treatment down-regulated nitrotyrosine expression in neurons

Nitrotyrosine is an indicator of cell damage and results from the nitration of tyrosine residues in proteins by peroxynitrite, a product of nitric oxide and superoxide. The expression of nitrotyrosine was at a low level (10.5%) in normal primary cultures. However, the number of nitrotyrosine-positive neurons increased significantly after exposure to 300 µM of KCN for 3 days (P P Fig. 4F)...

In summary, our results demonstrate that LED treatment twice a day was more effective in increasing the cellular ATP content and cytochrome oxidase activity and rescuing neurons from toxin-induced cell death. Twice a day LED treatment significantly counteracted both rotenone-and MPP+-induced neurotoxicity. Optimizing endogenous energy production and protecting neurons from neurotoxin-induced cell death are worthy measures to be considered in PD treatment and clinical therapy."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2587428/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12384247

 

[EdenDesjardins]

You have got to be really careful with so-called treatments for dementia. Most of them are scammers who prey on the desperate

Research is beginning to look at dementia (at last) and there is some interesting stuff around, but TBH, you have got to look at proper research with controls and double-blind testing and a lot of people taking part - not 2 subjects with a lot of emphasis on what the patient thinks and no controls.

I know we all feel helpless in the face of dementia and desperately want to be able to do something, but if a cure (or even the possibility of a cure) gets found you may be sure that it will be blazed all across the media

Canary, I have been browsing these forums for awhile without posting but I thought I should get back to you as I have managed to find a trove of information on the beneficial and neuroprotective effects of photobiomodulation.

You may find these articles interesting :

https://www.researchgate.net/public...d_NIR_light_dosimetry_in_the_human_deep_brain

https://www.researchgate.net/public...unction_of_mitochondrial_cytochrome_c_oxidase

It seems like using NIR light therapy intranasally and transcranially has a potent ability to effect neuronal health without any negative side effects and... can be used easily from your home. Just thought I should share this.

 

[Sue J]

Canary, I have been browsing these forums for awhile without posting but I thought I should get back to you as I have managed to find a trove of information on the beneficial and neuroprotective effects of photobiomodulation.

You may find these articles interesting :

https://www.researchgate.net/public...d_NIR_light_dosimetry_in_the_human_deep_brain

https://www.researchgate.net/public...unction_of_mitochondrial_cytochrome_c_oxidase

It seems like using NIR light therapy intranasally and transcranially has a potent ability to effect neuronal health without any negative side effects and... can be used easily from your home. Just thought I should share this.

Thank you for posting this, wish I could follow it all.

Can you say how this can be used at home please? I would certainly try.

Thanks
Sue

 

[canary]

Yes, those papers are interesting and all research is welcome.

However, I will say that the first artical is only looking at whether it was possible to illuminate the brain (they were using dead brain matter). They also only used one cadaver (dead person) and freely admitted that some of the data was missing, so it is by no means conclusive. They were also not looking at therapy. They stated that "To date, there have been no major clinical trials on the therapeutic effect of red/NIR light in patients with PD". This is obviously very early stage, but if further tests confirm that the brain matter can be illuminated it could open up the possibility of research into therapeutic effects.

The second paper seems to be an overview of other peoples research into the use of light therapy (no results cited) and mostly looked at research into how light affects the mitochondria. The main focus of any possible therapy seemed to be for destroying cancer cells - no mention of any form of dementia was referred to.

Even if researchers look into the affect on dementia (and I hope someone will, though it is not as "sexy" as something like cancer) it is obviously going to be sometime before it becomes mainstream.

 

[Sue J]

Thanks canary for that I could manage that much

I agree dementia isn't 'sexy', but it is getting more costly for the government and will only continue to do so hopefully it will inject money into research but it is a very lengthy process.