In this video from MedCram, Dr. Seheult discusses red light devices. Medcram has discussed sunlight and how it affects the functioning of the body. There is another area of science that is growing quickly called photobiomodulation which is the use of light in health.
What is photobiomodulation?
It describes the biochemical reactions that occur in living cells in response to light. Photobiomodulation can modulate the activity of hormones, macrophage activity, cytokines, and of gene expression. Photobiomodulation may also have effects that are antimicrobial, antiviral, cytoprotective, and affect the innate immunity. Dr. Seheult uses COVID-19 as a prototype as for what exactly photobiomodulation can do with near infrared light.
This goes back to video Medcram had published in 2020 with Update 65. In COVID-19, the ACE2 enzyme is knocked out and this leads to an increase in the reactive oxygen species. Melatonin is well known to mitigate reactive oxygen species and has an effect on oxidative stress. The findings of oxidative stress in COVID-19 is well documented. An article from Antioxidants Dec 2021 about severe glutathione deficiency showed that of the 60 patients admitted to the hospital there was a decrease of antioxidants found in the cells, there is an increase marker of oxidative stress as well as oxidative damage. Much of this was linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. Now new articles are finding that mitochondrial dysfunction can play a role in long COVID fatigue. Medcram has produced at least three videos on this called Light as Medicine, the Case for Sunlight in COVID, and Infrared Light Improves COVID Outcomes.
Dr. Seheult actually also had a case where he took a patient with severe COVID-19 and outside in the sun and the patient showed improvement in his respiratory status. Dr. Seheult feels that the best way to get the infrared radiation is to simply go out in the sun; however, there are factors that could prevent a person from going out the sun including weather and inability to go outside due to hospitalization. There are multiple articles that are now exploring how photobiomodulation can affect individuals. Last year Medcram published a video called Treatment for Long COVID regarding the use of either transcranial or whole body photobiomodulation. Near infrared red light is able to penetrate the skull and go into the CSF fluid which then allows it to be diffused throughout the brain. This article that was published in March 2024 on Transcranial Photo Modulation for the brain showed it had a wide range of clinical applications.
Currently when it comes to photobiomodulation and helmets, there are no devices that are FDA approved. There are two major companies Neuronic and Vielight, both of these companies are in the process of trying to get FDA approval for their devices.
LINKS / REFERENCES:
Photobiomodulation (PBM) research – a comprehensive database (Heiskanen) | https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/…
Photobiomodulation Therapy as a Possible New Approach in COVID-19: A Systematic Review (MDPI) | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/11/6/580
Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body (Melatonin Research) | https://www.melatonin-research.net/in…
Coronavirus Pandemic Update 65: COVID-19 and Oxidative Stress (MedCram) | 
• Coronavirus Pandemic Update 65: COVID…
Severe Glutathione Deficiency, Oxidative Stress and Oxidant Damage in Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19: Implications for GlyNAC (Glycine and N-Acetylcysteine) Supplementation (MDPI) | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/11/1/50
Sunlight: Optimize Health and Immunity (MedCram) | • Sunlight: Optimize Health and Immunit…
The Case for Sunlight in COVID 19 Patients: Oxidative Stress (MedCram) | • The Case for Sunlight in COVID 19 Pat…
Case Study: Sunlight Treatment for Hospitalized COVID Patient – Outcome and Implications (MedCram) | • Case Study: Sunlight Treatment for Ho…
Near Infrared Light (940nm) Improves COVID Outcomes: Exciting Randomized Control Trial (MedCram) | • Near Infrared Light (940nm) Improves …
Photobiomodulation (ASLMS) | https://www.aslms.org/for-the-public/…
A 57-Year-Old African American Man with Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia Who Responded to Supportive Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT): First Use of PBMT in COVID-19 (American journal of case reports) | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti…
Adjunct low level laser therapy (LLLT) in a morbidly obese patient with severe COVID-19 pneumonia: A case report (Canadian journal of respiratory therapy) | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti…
Effect of Transcranial Low-Level Light Therapy vs Sham Therapy Among Patients With Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury (JAMA) | https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama…
Post-COVID cognitive deficits at one year are global and associated with elevated brain injury markers and grey matter volume reduction: national prospective study (Research Square) | https://www.researchsquare.com/articl…
Use of either transcranial or whole-body photobiomodulation treatments improves COVID-19 brain fog (Journal of Biophotonics) | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/f…
Transcranial photobiomodulation for the brain: a wide range of clinical applications (Neural regeneration research) | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti…
Biphasic Dose Response in Low Level Light Therapy (Dose-response) | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti…
Pulsed transcranial photobiomodulation generates distinct beneficial neurocognitive effects compared with continuous wave transcranial light (Lasers in medical science) | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37668…
Neuronic (Neuronic) | https://neuronic.online Vielight (Vielight) | https://www.vielight.com