The next decade of LLLT – the barriers to mainstream adoption

Because LLLT modulates cellular oxidation and energy production it could potentially affect  a wide range of diseases, injuries or other dysfunctions in the body.

By the end of the next decade, it is possible  LLLT may be used in almost every department of every hospital (and every medicine cabinet of every home).

Given the amount of good quality research published over the last decade, why isn’t it part of mainstream medicine already?

Industry would like to blame:

• Ignorance and conservative attitudes of doctors and therapists
• Ignorance by reimbursement organisations and regulatory authorities
• Competitive interests (“big pharma”)

but I think industry has not helped the case for adoption of LLLT with:

• Overstated and unsubstantiated claims
• Pseudoscience disseminated by short term opportunist retailers / manufacturers
• Poor knowledge of mechanism and dosimetry, leading to ineffective treatment protocols and training
• Poor or non-existent training
• Products that do not perform to claimed specification
• Competitive attempts to differentiate products creating confusion and road blocks to industry standards
• Lack of investor interest due to too much prior art and too few strong patents

and to some degree the academics (authors, supervisors and journal editorial boards) by

• Poor reporting of dosimetry
• Use of ineffective dose despite published evidence
• Using devices not independently verified

What do you think ?

In your opinion, what needs to happen for LLLT to become a routine mainstream clinical procedure this coming decade?