History Of Medicine Light Therapy

Light therapy is a way to treat seasonal affective disorder sad and certain other conditions by exposure to artificial light.
History of medicine light therapy. Nitric oxide is a signaling molecule that is known to relax smooth muscle cells found in the arteries veins capillaries and. The modern science of phototherapy was inaugurat ed by danish faroese icelandic physician niels ryberg finsen 1860 1904 who received the 1903 nobel prize in medicine and physiology for his pioneering work on the therapeutic and physiological effects of light treatment from artificial light sources. And ferid murad md received the 1998 nobel prize for physiology and medicine. Many cultures knew the benefits of light therapy dating as far back as the time of the ancient greeks who knew about its many health benefits and had their own practices that involved light therapy.
These discoveries have fueled emerging medical technologies like red light therapy also known as photobiomodulation or low level light therapy lllt. The infrared photo energy stimulates nitric oxide from the hemoglobin and possibly surrounding tissue. By the 1920s and 30s light therapy was all the rage and manufacturers in europe and. Overexposure to ultraviolet light over a long period of time can lead to melanoma and other skin cancers.
Modern medicine has discovered that red light light with wavelengths from 630 to 880 nanometers produces unique health benefits. Light therapy or phototherapy classically referred to as heliotherapy consists either of a exposure to daylight or some equivalent form of light as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder sad or b exposure of the skin to specific wavelengths of light using polychromatic polarised light to treat a skin condition. Physiotherapy has a long history with light therapy. The light therapy practice is now treated with much greater caution as it should be.
Light therapy dates back to the greeks when it was known that exposure to light or heliotherapy could be beneficial to health. Today we know that one benefit of light exposure is the skin s production of vitamin d one of the healing vitamins that is essential to good health. Throughout much of the 20th century light therapies were an integral part of the therapists toolkit. The history of light therapy we all know sunlight is good for us because it helps produce vitamin d in the most natural form.
A woman inspects an electric bath at the light care institute. Sad is a type of depression that occurs at a certain time each year usually in the fall or winter.