Sunnex Biotechnologies is pleased to announce a recent independent study by the Canadian Defence Department’s Research and Development Centre comparing phototherapeutic (light therapy) devices concludes the Lo-LIGHT tower is “the best device, producing melatonin suppression and circadian phase change while relatively free of side effects.”(Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, July 2007)
The study compares an LED therapy lamp, The Litebook®) (that primarily emits blue light), a green light LED visor, (the FeelBright Light™), an experimental model of LED spectacles, and Sunnex Biotechnologies Lo-LIGHT twin tower model. The study's purpose was to select a light therapy device to improve performance in a night work adaptation program. The Lo–LIGHT tower, using Sunnex Biotechnologies patented GreenLIGHT technology produced twice the phase shift in the circadian rhythms of the internal body clock and significantly more melatonin suppression than did The Litebook®, even though the Lo-LIGHT tower provides only 1/20th of the light intensity.
The authors noted the light visor, The Litebook® , and the LED spectacles caused more eye discomfort than the Lo-LIGHT tower. The authors also stated “What was most surprising was that the light tower achieved a numerically superior circadian phase delay in spite of the fact that it emits less than 5% of the light intensity emitted by the light visor”.
According to Murray Waldman, president of Sunnex Biotechnologies, “this confirms earlier studies which demonstrated that low intensities of GreenLIGHT provided by the Sunnex Biotechnologies Lo-LIGHT towers induces equivalent physiological responses in people suffering from Seasonal affective Disorder (SAD) as do bright white light therapy devices.”
Waldman points out confirmation of the superiority of the GreenLIGHT low-intensity light therapy technology is particularly important at this time because of a ground-breaking paper in the February 2007 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. In this study Benedetti et al used MRI brain scans to examine the changes in brain metabolic activity resulting from a one week therapy protocol with low-intensity green light therapy that produces rapid and sustained relief from bipolar depression.
In an earlier study Benedetti demonstrated a one week protocol with low intensity green light is long lasting.(J Clinical Psychiatry, Dec 2005). In that study, patients treated for one week were tracked for 9 months. The relief from bipolar depression was sustained and superior to results reported in the literature from studies of treatments with drugs, without the adverse side effects that accompany the use of antidepressant or neuroleptic medications. Benedetti explained that low intensity (400 lux) green light therapy is of particular value in the treatment of bipolar depression because it avoids the risk of causing retinal damage from light. The risk of retinal damage is increased by the photosensitizing effects of lithium and other medications and would therefore be a concern with bright (5,000-10,000 lux) therapy lamps.
Six million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder each year. The cost of this ailment to society runs in the billions of dollars. The importance of finding a safe, first line intervention for bipolar disorder was recently highlighted in a review that demonstrated antidepressant medications are of no benefit to patients with bipolar depression. (The New England Journal of Medicine. April 26, 2007, Sachs et al) . Sunnex Biotechnologies low intensity GreenLIGHT technology provides a side-effect free, highly cost-effective intervention.
GreenLIGHT technology was also used to develop the light management protocol for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Crew Endurance Management System(CEMS). This program is recommended for use on commercial vessels to counteract the negative health effects and the reduction in performance levels associated with night shift work. With the effectiveness of low intensity green light therapy now well established, Waldman expects sales for Seasonal Depression (SAD) to increase substantially this winter.
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