A few weeks back, I wrote about a truly remarkable line of research showing that blood flow continues for a period of time absent a beating heart. Among the more interesting aspects of this research, as if postmortem blood flow wasn’t mind-blowing enough, was the fact that infrared energy (IR), essentially red lights at various wavelengths, enhanced the blood flow quite significantly. This may be due to a number of reasons, including metabolic stimulation. Among the pathways induced by IR is nitric oxide, which is not only a potent vasodilator, but through the activation of cytochrome C oxidase can enhance ATP production. For these and other reasons, red light therapy or photobiomodulation, is gaining traction as a viable therapy for a variety of circulatory conditions. I will cover those in a subsequent post exploring mechanisms, for now though, I would like to provide a brief review of a study using IR as an adjunctive therapy in older patients hospitalized with serious COVID-related cardiopulmonary issues. The results from this study show that perhaps we ought to considering redlight therapy for COVID in the acute stages, but possibly also, with its more chronic manifestations.
The study: Cardiopulmonary and hematological effects of infrared LED photobiomodulation in the treatment of SARS-COV2 was conducted in Brazil and included 30, hospitalized patients over the age of 50 years, who were randomized into a control or treatment (LED) group. Both groups received conventional treatments that included: hydroxychloroquine with a combination of antibiotics, such asteicoplanin or azithromycin as well as respiratory therapy. The LED group received 15 minutes of IR at 940nm once per day for 7 days. This was provided via a LED vest that was placed upon the chest. The control was also wore the vest for 15 minutes per day for 7 days, but the lights were turned off. Red light in this spectrum is not visible to the naked eye. Treating physicians were blinded to who was in the treatment versus control groups.
A number of measures were taken pre and post treatment. Among them tests of respiratory and cardiovascular function and a standard CBC panel. Although randomly placed in each group, the treatment group entered the hospital significantly more ill than the control group. Despite this, they left the hospital almost 4 days earlier (8 versus 11.7 days) and demonstrated better outcomes. The LED group showed significant improvement in:
…Partial Oxygen Saturation, Tidal Volume, Maximum Inspiratory, and Expiratory Pressures, Respiratory Frequency, Heart Rate, and Systolic Blood Pressure (p < 0.05). Regarding blood count, it was observed that post-treatment, the LED group presented with significant differences in the count of leukocytes, neutrophils, and lymphocytes.
Among the more interesting parameters was oxygen saturation (SaO2). Pre-treatment the SaO2 for the LED group was 86.7. Posttreatment it was 96.1. In contrast, the control group had a SaO2 of 89.3 at admission but only improved slightly to 91.9 at the end of the study. The normal range for oxygen saturation is 96-100% – meaning the redlight therapy improved oxygenation sufficiently to return it to within a normal range whereas the patients who received only the conventional treatment remained hypoxic.
Another notable improvement was heart rate (HR). Again, those in the LED group were more ill upon admission with abnormally elevated HR at 100 bpm versus 82 bpm. Upon completion of the treatment, the LED group saw a 20 point reduction in HR (80.7), whereas the HR patients in the conventional group remained stable at ~80 bpm.
Finally, there were a number of immune system parameters that improved significantly in the LED group but not the control. All in all, the results suggest red light therapy by may be a useful treatment for COVID-related cardiopulmonary illnesses, and really, any condition affecting oxygenation.
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Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash.
