Durham Uni trial light therapy helmet that could help those living with dementia
The helmet uses electromagnetic radiation to treat the disease
A helmet that used infrared light therapy could have the potential to help those living with dementia, following a study by Durham university.
Scientists in Durham have used electromagnetic radiation on a special helmet as part of a trial, and found improvements in the memory, motor function and processing skills of participants.
Tracy Sloan, who has no diagnosed condition, was part of the pilot for three months
"After three weeks, I slept a lot better and I had loads more energy. My mood was totally better than it was before. I didn't have to write little simple tasks down, I was actually remembering much better.
"I was actually remembering. This was after a period of three or four weeks using the helmet."
How does the helmet work?
The helmet works by delivering infrared light from 14 fan cooled LED light arrays deep into the brain over a six-minute treatment cycle.
The LED light stimulate the brain, and generates a rise inthe level of an organic compound called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is regularly decreased in dementia patients, that provides the energy to drive processes in living cells and help nerve cells to repair.
The helmet can be easily worn by patients, meaning the therapy can be readily delivered at home.
Researchers believe it could also be beneficial to other disorders, such as Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury or motor neurone disease.
What happened in the study?
A pilot study, led by Dr Paul Chazot, Durham University, UK, and Dr Gordon Dougal, of Maculume Ltd, found improvements in the memory, motor function and processing skills of healthy people with normal intellectual function for their age.
The research saw 14 healthy people, aged 45 and over, from the UK receive six minutes of treatment from the helmet twice daily over a period of four weeks. This was also carried out alongside a control group of 13 members using a dummy PBM-T helmet.
The PMB-T helmet conducts what is called transcranial photobiomodulation therapy (PBM-T) – where infrared light is self-delivered to the brain using a specially designed helmet worn by the patient.
Scientists conducted a series of memory, verbal, and motor skills tests on the participants in both groups before and after the treatment period to see what improvements in function might have been achieved.
For the pilot, finger tapping was used to measure motor function and mathematical processing was used to measure memory performance.
The researchers found a significant improvement in performance in both motor function and memory performance who had received PBM-T compared to those in the control placebo group.
An improved delayed memory and brain processing speed was also found in those who used the helmet.
Despite the findings, they have stressed that more research into the use and effectiveness of the therapy is needed, but that the findings of their pilot were promising.
Participants reported no adverse effects caused by the treatment.
What did the researchers say?
Research Co-Lead Dr Paul Chazot, in the Department of Biosciences, Durham University, said: “While this is a pilot study and more research is needed, there are promising indications that therapy involving infrared light might also be beneficial for people living with dementia and this is worth exploring.
“We know that infrared light of particular wavelengths can help alleviate nerve cell damage, amyloid load and reduced blood flow in the brain, which are common in people with dementia, so could it be used as a game-changing multi-modal form of therapy?"