GoKawiilIn 2021, dermatologist David Ozog was on holiday with his family in the Bahamas, when his 18-year-old son had a massive stroke. The teenager was airlifted to Florida, and then to Chicago for surgery. As his son was lying partially paralysed in a hospital bed, Ozog got a call from a colleague who had an unconventional suggestion.
Forget SkinTok: the real science of skincare and why it matters for your healt
The colleague, a dermatologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, told Ozog about research he was conducting with the US Department of Defense. Early results hinted that red and near-infrared light applied to the head might protect neural tissue after brain injury. He urged Ozog to consider trying it on his son.
Ozog stayed up until 4 a.m. that night reading scientific papers and, ultimately, ordering several panels made of red and near-infrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs). “I started sneaking them into the hospital,” says Ozog, who works at Henry Ford Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Today, his son is walking and back in university. Ozog cannot prove that light therapy made a difference, but he thinks that it helped. He has since become a convert to an idea that, at the time, was considered fringe. “I thought the same thing,” he says, “How could shining this thing on you possibly have any biologic effect?”
But what was at the margins of medicine just a few years ago is now edging towards the mainstream. Red-light devices are increasingly appearing in dermatology offices, wellness centres, locker rooms and homes. According to some projections, the global market will surpass US$1 billion by 2030, propelled by a surge of companies promising benefits for everything from ageing skin to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — claims echoed widely across social media.
Experts warn that there is considerable hype about red-light therapy. But a growing body of legitimate science has been exploring the benefits for several conditions. Clinical studies have reported improvements in peripheral neuropathy1, retinal degeneration2 and certain neurological disorders3. For some indications, expert groups now recommend red-light regimens1.
Researchers are also uncovering how red and near-infrared light might exert these effects. Mitochondria — the power plants of the cell — are emerging as a central piece of the puzzle.
The science behind these benefits is growing at a time in which humans are exposed to less red light than ever before. People spend more time indoors away from the Sun, and efforts to conserve energy have narrowed the spectrum of indoor lighting, eliminating many red and near-infrared wavelengths (see ‘Light by the source’). Some scientists are now asking whether these factors might have biological consequences. “We’re literally being starved of something that, biologically, we’ve evolved to receive,” says Ozog.
Source: K. M. Zielinska-Dabkowska/Asensetek Lighting Passport Pro Standard Spectrometer
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