Research: Cancer & Red Light Therapy; Rabbit Hole: How Light Irradiance is Used as a Marketing Tactic

2023-04-06

On this week's episode of The Red Light Report, I unveil BioLight's newest product, the Glow! I detail why the Glow was developed, what makes it special and why it is significantly different than any other handheld red light therapy device on the market. More importantly, I cover one photobiomodulation research article in detail on a topic that I constantly get questions about: cancer. One of the amazing features of red light therapy is that, according to the research, there are zero contraindications for implementing it for a given health condition; that includes cancer. Of course, that comes with the caveat that one should not di...

One of the amazing features of red light therapy is that, according to the research, there are zero contraindications for implementing it for a given health condition; that includes cancer. Of course, that comes with the caveat that one should not directly irradiate the site of an active cancer, but can safely treat other parts of the body. And that is not necessarily because irradiating the active cancer site would lead to negative consequences (in some research it has, in others it has actually been beneficial), rather we simply do not know enough to confidently provide guidance on how to best yield red light therapy efficaciously. Said another way, better safe than sorry.

With all of that being said, this WALT (World Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy; the "L" used to stand for Laser) paper provides some clarification on the topic of red light therapy and cancer; basically, highlighting what we do and don't know. At the very least, this provides guide rails, much needed expert perspective on a delicate topic and informs us where we stand in the landscape of red light therapy and cancer. I also have a couple of impromptu rabbit holes I go down, one that includes how many red light therapy companies are inflating their light irradiance as a marketing tactic.

With every piece of research we unearth, we only learn more about the amazing healing frequencies of red and near-infrared light. As always, light up your health and enjoy!

Dr. Mike Belkowski discusses the following:

Intro: (0:00)
Contraindications?: (2:27)
BioLight's newest product The Glow: (5:27)
Red light therapy and cancer: (12:45)
Photobiomodulation research article: (13:31)
Intro to the article out of the frontiers in oncology journal: (14:19)
Photobiomodulation parameters: (17:27)
Importance of consistent exposure: (22:17)
LEDs for home use: (26:18)
Light irradiance: (31:23)
Red Light therapy and tumors: (35:58)
Safety data: (37:44)
Human clinical safety data: (39:38)
Xerostomia and hyposalivation: (44:40)
Bone necrosis: (48:40)
Hand-foot syndrome: (49:08)
Graft vs host disease: (49:29)
Chemotherapy-induced alopecia: (50:59)
Cancer treatment and quality of life: (52:29)