Red light therapy has been shown to reduce inflammation in the brain and protect people facing conditions such as: head injury Long-term health effects have been shown in a University of Utah study.
Brain damage from repeated impacts over many years is known to cause cognitive symptoms, ranging from memory loss to full-blown dementia, especially affecting soldiers and athletes.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that is associated with repeated head impacts rather than a single trauma, according to the Mayo Clinic.
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Over 100 former NFL players soccer player He was diagnosed with CTE post-mortem, according to a new study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
Other studies have shown that military personnel and first responders in combat also suffer from similar problems. and veterans.
In the new study, researchers recruited 26 active soccer players to further understand the health effects of red light therapy. brain injury.
Participants received either red light therapy, delivered by a light-emitting headset and a device clipped to their nose, or a placebo treatment using an identical device that did not produce light. The players self-administered the treatments three times a week for 20 minutes each time for 16 weeks.
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“My first reaction was, ‘There’s no way this could be real,'” lead author Dr. Hannah Lindsay said in a university press release. “That’s how shocking it was.”
Athletes who used the placebo treatment experienced increased brain inflammation during the season. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans taken late in the season showed significantly more signs of inflammation than early in the season, the study found.
For athletes who used red light therapy during the season, brain inflammation did not increase at all.
Previous research has shown that if red light is strong enough, it can penetrate the skull and reach the brain, where it can reduce inflammation-related molecules.
“When I first started this project, I was very skeptical,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Elizabeth Wilde. “But we have seen consistent results across all regions. Our research multipleSo, it’s becoming quite persuasive.
The researchers acknowledged that because the study was conducted using a small sample size, different levels of inflammation occurred in the treatment and control groups.
The researchers noted that future large-scale randomized clinical trials in larger populations will be “crucial to corroborate the results.”
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“We have been looking for ways to provide safe sports for children. friends and family They can safely participate in sports over a long period of time while participating in activities that give them happiness and joy,” said the study’s second author, Dr. Carrie Esopenko, in a release.
“And this feels like exactly the piece of hope to protect the brain that we’ve been looking for.”
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The team plans to recruit 300 people with persistent symptoms from a traumatic brain injury or concussion in a randomized controlled trial in 2026, mostly first responders, veterans, and active duty military.
