TITLE:
The Growing Evidence for Photobiomodulation as a Promising Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease
AUTHORS:
Lew Lim
KEYWORDS:
Photobiomodulation, Alzheimer’s Disease, Near Infrared Light, Default Mode Network, Clinical Trials, Aβ, Neurofibrillary Tangles, Tau, Neuro Gamma
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.6 No.12,
December
27,
2018
ABSTRACT: Despite the current belief that there is no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), one emerging modality may change this belief: Photobiomodulation (PBM). It has credible mechanisms and growing evidence to support its case. Transcranial PBM for AD is a single intervention with multiple pathway mechanisms stemming from delivering low energy near infrared (NIR) light to the mitochondria in brain cells. The mechanisms involve the activation of gene transcription that lead to neuronal recovery, removal of toxic plaques, normalizing network oscillations that can lead to improved cognition and functionality. When PBM is delivered at 810 nm wavelength and pulsed at 40 Hz, early evidence suggests that very significant outcomes are possible. Literature related to PBM and AD has covered in vitro cellular, animal and human case reports, with promising results. They warrant robust randomized trials which are either ongoing or ready to start. The evidence in human studies is manifested in assessment scales such ADAS-cog, MMSE, and ADAS-ADL, and are supported by fMRI imaging and EEG.