Light as a potential treatment for pandemic coronavirus infectionsExtract: the resulting 93% increase in decay constant and the concomitant 92.3% decline in half-life due to light is impressive. This recent development buttresses the suggestion that blue light, in particular, pulsed blue light, which recent reports have shown to be 40 to 100 times more potent than the commonly available continuous wave blue light [[34], [35], [36]], has great potential to inactivate COVID-19 and other coronaviruses, in addition to suppressing related opportunistic bacterial infections. Light As Medicine? | wisconsinacademy.orgLight as Medicine?Extract:: Enwemeka notes that to achieve complete destruction of bacterial colonies with blue light, the treatment must be repeated. But given its relative ease of application, blue light therapy holds tremendous promise as an alternative to full-spectrum antibiotics, many of which are decreasing in efficacy. Humans are exposed to so many antibiotics—through food sources and careless use of prescribed medications—that bacterial resistance is now rising much faster than the rate of new drug discovery.In contrast to far-red and NIR light which stimulate the body’s repair of injured cells, blue light improves wound healing by killing the bacteria that cause wound infections. UWM’s Enwemeka is a pioneer in the use of LED blue light to clear infections. In a 2007 study supported by Dynatronics Corporation, Enwemeka discovered that some wavelengths of blue light, especially those in the 405–470 nm wavelength, kill bacteria so effectively that the process even works on MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant “superbug” form of Staphylococcus aureus. (PDF) Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder with Blue Narrow-Band Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) (researchgate.net)Light Therapy for SADExtract:: While light has proven an effective treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), an optimal wavelength combination has not been determined. Short wavelength light (blue) has demonstrated potency as a stimulus for acute melatonin suppression and circadian phase shifting. Aspects of Antiviral Strategies Based on Different Phototherapy Approaches: Hit by the Light - PMC (nih.gov)Aspects of Antiviral StrategiesExtract: ConclusionsLight-based therapeutic approaches are characterized by the ability to focus the beam of light onto the lesion or the part of the body that requires treatment. This has been often taken advantage of in the treatment of cancer, where the selectivity provided by the spatial confinement of illumination reduces the damage to surrounding normal tissue. However, light-based treatments can also be useful in the case of localized infections, and for sterilizing various products, such as blood products, medical devices, and foodstuffs. Every known class of pathogen can be inactivated by the appropriate PT approach, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, parasites, and even prions. For viral infections, the reactive oxygen species produced by PT can either damage the virus structure itself and/or the host cells that are infected by the virus. Enveloped viruses which contain protein and lipids in the envelope are more easily oxidized by ROS compared to nonenveloped viruses. It is still uncertain to what extent PT approaches may be useful in systemic viral infections, but PDT has been shown to activate the host immune response in cancer treatment, and this may also apply to trigger the immune response against viruses. Antiviral phototherapy and photoacoustics, including photoacoustic molecular imaging, are two very promising approaches to fight against viral infections. Despite the potential of the photoacoustic approach, the data in the literature is still scarce. Antiviral PAT, as one of the latest phototherapy techniques, still requires more development, in order to become a precise and effective treatment. Nevertheless, photoacoustic antiviral treatment could allow the precise destruction of virus-infected cells, and minimize the damage to the surrounding normal tissue and cells. Can biowarfare agents be defeated with light? - PMC (nih.gov)Can biowarfare agents be defeated with light? - PMC (nih.gov)Can biowarfare agents be defeated with light?Extract Conclusion: Recent studies have highlighted the diversity of applications of light-mediated technology against pathogens of all known classes. Wavelengths from the short-UV to the near-infrared (either alone or combined with PS) can be used to kill or inactivate gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, fungi, endospores, parasites, viruses, and even protein toxins. The mechanisms of action depend on the different microbial types and the wavelength and presence or not of a PS. The two broad target classes are nucleic acids for UVC and PUVA and oxidizable proteins for photocatalysis, PDT, and blue light. The broad occurrence of these biological targets in bioweapons agents means that the light-mediated technology is highly likely to be very broad-spectrum, thus avoiding the need to know the identity of the particular agent in any mass biological attack, and also suggests that the development of resistance to light-mediated inactivation is likely to non-existent. Furthermore, light is non-polluting and environmentally friendly, and even if PS need to be used, these compounds are likely to be photodegraded rapidly when the bio-threat has been neutralized thus leaving no lasting pollution. The use of light-based technology to prevent and treat actual infections suggests that they may be useful to decontaminate humans that have already received exposure to biological agents, without causing undue harm to host tissue. Lastly light-based inactivation may be particularly suitable to form vaccines as they kill pathogens while preserving their antigenicity.
Directory: National Library of Medicine
Blue Light Therapy - PMC - NCBI (nih.gov)Phototherapy and Optical Waveguides for the Treatment of InfectionExtract: phototherapy appears to be a promising approach for the local infection treatment and prophylaxis due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antiviral activities, low invasiveness, minimal systemic side effects, and no evidence of inducing treatment resistance (except direct UV therapy and PTT).Blue Light Therapy viral infection - PMC - NCBI (nih.gov)New Insights Into Blue Light Phototherapy in Experimental Trypanosoma cruzi InfectionExtract: Blue light treatment reduced the quantification of distinct (Y and CL) strains of T. cruzi and reduced blood and intracellular forms of the parasite in mammalian hosts. These data support the importance of an alternative and/or complementary therapy against T. cruzi and instigate further investigations on the underlying mechanism and whether long-term phototherapy mitigates myocarditis diagnosed in experimental and human infections.
Can biowarfare agents be defeated with light? - PMC (nih.gov)Can biowarfare agents be defeated with light?Extract: Recent studies have highlighted the diversity of applications of light-mediated technology against pathogens of all known classes. Wavelengths from the short-UV to the near-infrared (either alone or combined with PS) can be used to kill or inactivate gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, fungi, endospores, parasites, viruses, and even protein toxins.
Light based anti-infectives: ultraviolet C irradiation, photodynamic therapy, blue light, and beyond - PMC (nih.govLight based anti-infectivesExtract: Many microbial cells are highly sensitive to killing by blue light (400–470 nm) due to accumulation of naturally occurring photosensitizers such as porphyrins and flavins. Near infrared light has also been shown to have antimicrobial effects against certain species. Clinical applications of these technologies include skin, dental, wound, stomach, nasal, toenail and other infections which are amenable to effective light delivery.
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While Blue Light has many health benefits, it is not healthy for eyes, especially in such a concentrated form. Goggles must be worn (provided) when using anywhere when the illumination is in direct line of sight.