by Les Cole, MD

You have undoubtedly heard of cold lasers by now. These devices have been around for a long time. You probably know about them from physical therapy where they are used to decrease inflammation and improve healing. One of the important ways they do this is by increasing the amount of energy in the injured tissues so they can function more normally.

Light therapy devices work by producing long wavelengths that penetrate into tissues carrying energy packets called photons. Red light photons easily transfer their energy to iron atoms in the red blood cells’ hemoglobin and the mitochondria’s cytochrome C. Importantly, every time your cytochrome C’s iron molecule absorbs a red light photon, out pops an ATP molecule! This is the energy currency produced in your mitochondria generally by burning sugar or fat that then gets all the work of your cells accomplished.

So how could this benefit your brain? Well, if you have had some kind of damage to your brain (lack of oxygen, trauma, toxins, etc.), the mitochondria in your damaged brain cells no longer burn sugar or fat molecules efficiently to produce the energy for your neurons to function normally or to heal. You are then left with neurologic deficits. Under these circumstances, where red light energy is delivered to these damaged areas, they begin to function better and the neurologic deficits improve.

Studies have shown this type of therapy is extremely safe with no untoward side effects. It has been shown to be effective no matter how the brain injury occurred, whether you’ve had a lack of oxygen (stroke, heart attack, near drowning, etc.); traumatic (traumatic brain injury [TBI], chronic traumatic encephalopathy [CTE], post-concussion syndrome [PCS]); toxic (heavy metal, organotoxin, etc.); neurodegenerative (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, other dementia, etc.), injury or age related memory changes.

How it works is a light device called a Vielight is positioned on the head to deliver light energy to the outer layers of the brain while a nasal light delivers light energy to the many blood vessels in your nose. The blood carries the light energy via your hemoglobin to the cytochrome C in the deeper parts of your brain. The procedure lasts 15 minutes and is repeated daily or every other day depending on your condition.

St. Petersburg Health & Wellness and Vital Solutions IV Nutrition is now offering a free 15-minute consultation to see if you are a candidate as well as package pricing for treatments.