Author Archives: James Carroll

The outcome of Photothera’s clinical trial on 660 patients with acute ischemic stroke was presented at the American Heart Association’s International Stroke Conference in San Diego yesterday. Though results were not as good as hoped for there were some encouraging trends.

The LLLT group achieved a favourable outcome in 36.3% of patients compared to only 30.9% of patients in the placebo group at 90 days. However a post-hoc analysis of 434 patients who suffered moderate to moderately severe strokes showed a favorable outcome in 51.6% of patients in the TLT group compared to 41.9% of patients in the sham group. This 9.7% treatment effect was statistically significant (p-value 0.044). Adverse events did not differ between groups, providing evidence of the safety of LLLT.

It will be interesting to see the treatment parameters when the paper is published.

Below is the full press release

Just in case we have not got the message yet, Heidi Abrahamse group in South Africa demonstrate that more laser is not always better in this invitro study published yesterday.

As we know, one of the first responses to LED and Laser light absorption is release of or production of Nitric Oxide (NO) and that this reactive molecule modulates a cascade of secondary biological responses ultimately resulting in cytoprotection and/or gross physiological change, (particularly in stressed / hypoxic tissues).

In the current issue of J Molec Cell Cardiol, Zhang and colleagues utilize cultured cardiomyocytes subjected to hypoxia and reoxygenation to demonstrate that 5 min of NIR treatment upon reoxygenation  protects the cells from injury and eventual death and that this cytoprotection is dependent on the release of nitric oxide.

but how? read on

BRAZIL: 660nm laser improves functional recovery of the sciatic nerve in rats following crushing lesion.

Treatment was daily for 20 days. These were the treatment parameters. It just goes to show how little it takes in terms of power density and treatment time.

Lasers Med Sci, February 6, 2009; .

London LLLT Training Course Sat Feb 28th

This course covers all theoretical and practical material relevant to effective and safe use of LLLT. Our newly developed 3×3 Knowledge Matrix is a learning model to help easy understanding of the mechanism of action, clinical benefits and hands on treatment methods. The course also includes, technical parameters, safety, contraindications and FDA / DoH guidelines. A 50 page illustrated colour booklet is included and a certificate of attendance will be provided. 6 hours CPD.

https://www.thorlaser.com/courses

Houston LLLT Training Course Sat Feb 28th

This course covers all theoretical and practical material relevant to effective and safe use of LLLT. Our newly developed 3×3 Knowledge Matrix is a learning model to help easy understanding of the mechanism of action, clinical benefits and hands on treatment methods. The course also includes, technical parameters, safety, contraindications and FDA / DoH guidelines. A 50 page illustrated colour booklet is included and a certificate of attendance will be provided. 6 hours CPD.

http://thorlaser.com/courses

46 tinnitus patients went into this randomised placebo controlled study (it does not say if it was blinded in this abstract). The laser power was 5 mW and the wavelength 650 nm which is very low power for this condition, treatments were 20 mins daily for 3 months. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory scores improved in the entire sample after treatment but more significantly in the group receiving low-level laser. From the point of view of clinical classification, approximately 61% of irradiated patients had tinnitus severity decreased by one class, in comparison to 35% of the placebo group. A stronger laser might have done better.