Effects of Circadian Phase Tailored Light Therapy on Sleep, Mood, and Cognition in Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings in a Pivotal Study

It is shown that the circadian system is affected in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) even at an early stage of the disease and that such dysfunction may be detrimental to sleep, mood, and cognitive functioning. Light is a strong central modulator of the circadian rhythms and is potentially beneficial to mood and cognitive functioning via a direct effect or indirectly via its modulating effects on circadian rhythms. This study focuses on tracking the effect of light therapy on sleep quality, mood, and cognition in AD of mild/moderate severity. We performed a single-blind randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of a light therapy treatment tailored to the individual circadian phase as measured by dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). Such a treatment induced an objective circadian phase shift consistent with the melatonin phase response curve to light exposure, led to a shortening of the phase angle DLMO-falling asleep time, and was associated with an improvement in subjective sleep quality and cognitive performance.

A Growing Link between Circadian Rhythms, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer’s Disease

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Mounting evidence suggests the emerging important role of circadian rhythms in many diseases. Circadian rhythm disruption is considered to contribute to both T2DM and AD. Here, we review the relationship among circadian rhythm disruption, T2DM and AD, and suggest that the occurrence and progression of T2DM and AD may in part be associated with circadian disruption. Then, we summarize the promising therapeutic strategies targeting circadian dysfunction for T2DM and AD, including pharmacological treatment such as melatonin, orexin, and circadian molecules, as well as non-pharmacological treatments like light therapy, feeding behavior, and exercise.

Progress of different treatment modalities to limit the use of antibiotics in the treatment of acne

Acne vulgaris is one of the most common skin diseases, affecting mainly teenagers. Its treatment procedure is complex, with a long duration of medication. Antibiotics are the most preferably prescribed drugs for the treatment of acne. The long-term use of antibiotics leads to various adverse effects such as the disruption of indigenous flora and resistance. Therefore, numerous therapeutic protocols such as antimicrobial stewardship have been proposed to limit the haphazard use of oral antibiotics. This review emphasizes different topical drugs, systemic alternative drugs, laser, and light therapy, as effective therapies for acne. This review also briefly reflects the efficacy of fire needle therapy—a traditional Chinese therapy—for acne.

Low-laser light therapy in venous ulcer healing: a randomized clinical trial

ABSTRACT Objectives: to compare the effect of adjuvant low-laser light therapy versus conventional treatment alone on venous ulcer healing. Methods: this is a randomized clinical trial with 40 patients randomized equally to a control group (topical and compressive treatment) and intervention group (adjuvant low-laser light therapy). Outcomes of interest were Wound Healing: Secondary Intention and Tissue Integrity: Skin & Mucous Membranes, as described in the Classification of Nursing Outcomes/NOC. Results: groups with similar sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Eighty-two ulcers were assessed, with an average duration of 1 to 5 years, in 1,066 nursing consultations, with a statistically significant difference in the time and number of healed ulcers (intervention group). There was a significant improvement in the nursing outcomes under study and in eight clinical indicators. Conclusions: low-laser light therapy improves and reduces tissue regeneration time, contributing to advances in wound treatment.

Skin Improvement Effect of Tencel Sheet Mask Pack Using Self-luminous LED Light Source

Purpose: This study intends to prove whether the efficacy already proven in the existing light therapy LED mask device is similarly exerted in the self-luminous LED sheet mask that does not require power.Methods: The experimental subjects of this study were women with an average age of 47.9 years, and the effect of improving 24-hour moisturizing lasting, skin elasticity, eye expression wrinkles, and facial (cheek) lifting was studied by prohibiting the use of cosmetics containing active ingredients that could affect the results and making them use an LED sheet type mask pack.Results: As a result of the experiment, the 24-hour moisturizing lasting power was 90.573% immediately after use and 37.384% after 24 hours, so it increased significantly (p<0.05), and skin elasticity was also increased by 7.087% immediately after use. After one week, it was increased significantly (p<0.025) to 11.181%. Expression wrinkles around the eyes were significantly reduced (p<0.05) to 1.621% immediately after use and 4.579% after 1 week of use. In the facial (cheek) lifting experiment, the cheek angle (°) was reduced to 2.065% immediately postuse compared to pre-use. Also, it was significantly decreased (p<0.05) with a result of 3.762% after 1 week of use, thus proving that the light therapy LED sheet mask is also effective for skin improvement.Conclusion: Using this research material as basic data, it is expected that various skincare products will be developed as well as mask packs with a simple and easy structure of effective light therapy.

Controlled Synthesis of Up-Conversion NaYF4:Yb,Tm Nanoparticles for Drug Release under Near IR-Light Therapy

Up-Conversion materials have received great attention in drug delivery applications in recent years. A specifically emerging field includes the development of strategies focusing on photon processes that promote the development of novel platforms for the efficient transport and the controlled release of drug molecules in the harsh microenvironment. Here, modified reaction time, thermal treatment, and pH conditions were controlled in the synthesis of NaYF4:Yb,Tm up-converted (UC) material to improve its photoluminescence properties. The best blue-emission performance was achieved for the UC3 sample prepared through 24 h-synthesis without thermal treatment at a pH of 5, which promotes the presence of the β-phase and smaller particle size. NaYF4:Yb,Tm has resulted in a highly efficient blue emitter material for light-driven drug release under near-IR wavelength. Thus, NaYF4:Yb,Tm up-converted material promotes the N-O bond cleavage of the oxime ester of Ciprofloxacin (prodrug) as a highly efficient photosensitized drug delivery process. HPLC chromatography and transient absorption spectroscopy measurements were performed to evaluate the drug release conversion rate. UC3 has resulted in a very stable and easily recovered material that can be used in several reaction cycles. This straightforward methodology can be extended to other drugs containing photoactive chromophores and is present as an alternative for drug release systems.