Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
Parkinson’s is a complex disease that progresses over the years, and to date, has no cure. It is a neurodegenerative disease that wreaks havoc on the brain, which in turn interferes with the body’s fine motor skills. The brain’s neurons (nerve cells) are what create dopamine and the deterioration of this process is the cause of Parkinson’s disease.
In Parkinson’s patients, the dopamine chemical production is slowed down and over time it can be completely diminished. Some of the first symptoms of early Parkinson’s’ disease are impaired sense of smell, constipation and sleep disorders. These early signs are found in the medulla and the enteric region of the brain. Some patients will have diminished voices, develop rigid muscles and show little to no expression on their faces within the middle stages of the disease.
As the disease progresses, it eventually reaches the substantia nigra region of the brain, which controls the bodies movements. Once this stage is reached, patients have a difficult time controlling their bodily functions, and they develop tremors and have jarring irrepressible movements.
Treatment Options
Because there is no cure, the main treatments are given through traditional pharmaceutical medications, which are available to slow down the disease’s development. Many of these drugs increase the dopamine in the brain, and in some cases, replaces the dopamine altogether.
Along with medication management, physical therapy for balance and stretching is helpful for fine motor function. Speech pathology is also very effective in maintaining and improving speech related issues that the disease so commonly causes. In advanced cases there is the option for surgery.
While the medications may reduce the symptoms and provide relief, they can also create a cascade of dysfunction in the cells which creates what are the negative side effects we see now in medicine.
Alternative Therapy Using Near-Infrared Shows Signs of Neural Protection and Repair Through Regenerative Effects
The progression of neuronal death remains relentless, and it has proved difficult to slow or stop. Hence, there is a need to develop neuroprotective or disease-modifying treatments that stabilize this degeneration. Red or infrared light therapy and in particular light in the near-
infrared range (NIr), is emerging as a safe and effective therapy that is capable of arresting neuronal death.
Mitochondrial dysfunction-caused by either toxic insult, genetic mutation, vascular damage, or unknown factors is considered central in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (Fukae et al,2007: Exner et al., 2012).
Low level light therapy using red to infrared light is an emerging, punitive neuroprotective treatment that is showing promise in several pre-clinical models of disease.
The first studies to report neuroprotection by Near infrared after Parkinsonian insult demonstrated that Nir treatment reduced cell death, increased ATP content and decreased levels of oxidative stress in rat striatal and cortical cells exposed to the parkinsonian toxins rotenone and MPP (1-methyl-4-phenylpyridium) in vitro (Liang et al.,2008; Ying et al., 2008).
NIr treatment saved many dopaminergic cells from death. Further results were similar whether the therapy was applied before, at the same time or well after the insult, indicating the NIr both conditions healthy neuron to resist a subsequent insult and rescues damaged neurons following and insult.1
At the Tree of Light Center, they provide therapeutic light and infrared services to promote body rejuvenation and restoration on a cellular level. Along with targeting certain medical conditions, light therapy helps the body detoxify, revitalize, increase circulation, relieve pain, and reduce wrinkles. They offer Treatment via a Medical Grade Infrared Sauna and the ARCC Chamber!
Photobiomodulation, which the AARC Pod provides is defined as using photons of energy, delivered and absorbed into the body to modulate the life processes of the body.
• It Detoxifies the cells of wastes and free radicals which can help reduce inflammation, the leading cause of most mortality causing diseases.
• Mitochondria in the cells are the energy factories which convert food and sugar to ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the bodies fuel, improving both the production of energy and the biogenesis of new Giant mitochondria inside the cells. Think of mitochondria as the motor in a car and ATP the gasoline. Biogenesis is like replacing a 4-cylinder motor with 250,000 miles with a brand new V8 and filling it up with gasoline.
• Improve both the quality and volume of circulation in the body, increasing nutrient transfer to the cells.
• Provide relief from minor aches and pains. A common benefit associated with photobiomodulation is that it has an analgesic and protective effect on the nerve fibers.
Heat stress is also an important way of optimizing heat proteins inside your cells that trigger mitochondrial biogenesis, thereby supporting your overall health, especially cardiovascular, cardiac and brain health.
To start your way to better health, contact Tree of Light Center today at (239) 692-9367, or visit Treeoflightcenter.com
Dona Parker
Tree of Light Whole Body Rejuvenation
806 Neapolitan Way
Naples, FL 34103
(239) 692-9367
References:
1. Johnstone, DM, Front Neuroscience, “Turning On Lights to Stop Neurodegeneration: The Potential of Near Infrared Light Therapy in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease,” 2016 Jan 11;9:500. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00500. eCollection 2015.
