
How light therapy can treat disorders from depression to Alzheimer’s disease - pmcpinto
http://nautil.us/issue/19/illusions/take-light-not-drugs-hd
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joe_the_user
My mother died of dementia (and other things naturally) a few months ago (her
condition was diagnosed as Alzheimer's at one point but who can tell really).

I find it annoying when such and such an effect is describing as "treating
Alzheimers" when there no cures for dementia and not real understand of most
forms. All there are is combinations of drugs, therapies, and procedures that
may make the person's life easier and more pleasant.

It's ironic that drug companies must use the more modest "helps relieve the
symptoms of" language when talking of cold medicine but yet the hardly
accurate term "treating Alzheimer's" is tossed around an awful lot.

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goatforce5
I know someone who had cancer in their skull. The cancer is now removed, but
there is some scaring and loss of feeling (i.e., nerve damage), loss of
hearing, etc. Recently there was a scare that the cancer had returned (luckily
it had not, but it was something caused by the earlier treatment that required
further surgery). Was the cancer treated?

A treatment is not necessarily a cure, and something that can make a persons
life easier and more pleasant is still a positive outcome.

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joe_the_user
I think a treatment is generally understood to be an intervention that
addresses the "root cause" cause of condition. Anti-viral medications might or
might not treat a cold but it would a treatment. An antihistamine is
considered to be something that only addresses and relieves symptoms. I think
the distinction between these approaches is pretty well recognized and by that
token your friend received treatment.

Aspirin for a headache caused by the cancer in contrast, wouldn't be consider
a treatment. We know there are real treatments for cancer so most people would
be appalled by someone only getting aspirin or only getting pain-killer
(unless things had gotten too advanced). Thus, I don't think there's really
much confusion here except for some effort wade and make confusion.

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horse_continuum
Vancouver gets downright dreary in November - maybe I can convince my co-
workers that a natural light-mo-tron would be a good office purchase.

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kazinator
Vancouverite here!

5000 IU of Vitamin D3 every morning works like magic for me.

Good luck getting that in Canaduh in one pill; ordered from the States.

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VeejayRampay
Just curious, why ingest an amount that is so far beyond the recommended daily
dosage for vitamin D (which is, I think, less than 1K IU a day?

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kazinator
There is a now a growing belief that the recommendations for D3 are
ridiculously conservative.

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leg100
How about getting outside? The days are shorter and there is less light but we
get outdoors far less than previous generations. That will be a contributor to
light deprivation and S.A.D.

There's nothing inherently wrong with winter. If you're willing to make time
for a lightbox in the morning, you can make time for a lunchtime stroll and
get outdoors at the weekend.

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peatmoss
A lunchtime stroll is good too, but part of the point here is that the timing
of the light is important with respect to circadian rhythm. As a northern
latitude dweller, I leave the house in darkness and return in darkness. Bright
light in the morning with my coffee kickstarts that circadian pattern at a
time that I couldn't otherwise get light in winter months.

Hibernation during winter might be natural in some sense, but it doesn't fit
well with modern living. I'm outside about as much as one can and still do
computer-oriented work. I also, rain or shine, put in 50-100 miles per week on
my bicycle in commuting / errands, which means that I get a decent baseline of
exercise. But, that still doesn't cut it. It's light therapy or relocation for
me.

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discardorama
So how would one go about building one's own lightbox? I grew up in a sunny
area, and can feel the effects of SAD. Having a lightbox to improve the mood
would be helpful.

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tsomctl
Go on Amazon, and buy a full spectrum cfl. Just put it in a normal lamp, or
jury rig a reflective box with cardboard and flat white paint. Total cost:
$30.

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dded
How close to full-spectrum are those new "daylight" LED bulbs?

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thrownaway2424
They have almost no reds which is the dominant power of the solar spectrum or
any other black body. But aiui this discussion is about UV not IR and you can
make LEDs with impressive UV output.

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mike_ivanov
Could wandering virtual sunny landscapes in something like Oculus Rift be a
reasonable substitute for a light box?

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viggity
IIRC, no. You need to get/see UV in order for your pineal gland to stop
producing melatonin (what makes you sleepy). That is why most light therapy
boxes say that they're "full spectrum" \- they emit UV in addition to visible
light.

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blackbagboys
Do you have a source for this? I'm just curious because while it sounds
reasonable, a quick inspection of the light boxes on Amazon shows that many of
them advertise that they filter out nearly all UV light.

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viggity
my guess is that you're looking at general "light boxes" (for photo shoots).
Look on amazon for "happy lamps".

[http://www.amazon.com/Verilux-VT01WW1-HappyLight-Compact-
Ene...](http://www.amazon.com/Verilux-VT01WW1-HappyLight-Compact-
Energy/dp/B00761HREI)

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hexavision
I appreciate the idea behind light therapy, and I do believe it has its uses.
But as far as battling seasonal mood changes, I wonder if meditation and
positive affirmations would be just as effective, if not more so? There's a
line in that article, "He can feel the effects when he falls off the light box
wagon, as he did recently during a particularly busy time at work." By using
meditation and affirmations, one could never "fall off the wagon." My hope is
that research centers focus their efforts on energy healing and meditation
because I know there would be massive breakthroughs in unifying spirituality,
science, and medicine.

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peatmoss
Well, there have been some studies that have claimed benefits from meditation
for some forms of depression. However, this article was focused on conditions
believed to be influenced by circadian rhythm. Light unambiguously has an
effect on circadian rhythm, whereas meditation, maybe not so much.

