Research suggests that light therapy may be a promising treatment option for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: Rad Cyrus, Unsplash, CC0 (creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
Light therapy leads to significant improvements in sleep and psycho-behavioral symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in PLOS ONE by Qinghui Meng of Weifang Medical University, China, and colleagues.
The cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease is often accompanied by sleep disturbances and psycho-behavioral symptoms, including listless and depressive behavior, agitation and aggression. Photobiomodulation is a non-pharmacological therapy that uses light energy to stimulate the suprachiasmic nucleus (SCN), a sleep modulator in the brain. Although light therapy is receiving increased attention as a potential intervention for Alzheimer’s disease, systematic evaluation of its effectiveness and safety is not available.
In the new study, researchers searched multiple databases to identify all randomized controlled trials related to light therapy intervention for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Fifteen high-quality trials with available methods and relevant outcomes were selected for further analysis. The included essays were written in English, published between 2005 and 2022, and conducted in seven countries. They included a total of 598 patients.
The meta-analysis of 15 trials found that light therapy significantly improved sleep efficiency, increased interday stability (a measure of the strength of circadian rhythms), and reduced intraday variability (a measure of how often a person passes from rest to activity during the day). ). In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, light therapy also alleviated depression and reduced patient agitation and caregiver burden.
Given the limited sample sizes in the studies included in this meta-analysis, the authors advocate for larger future studies, which could also explore whether exposure to bright light could cause unwanted behavior in patients. They conclude that light therapy is a promising therapeutic option for certain symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
The authors add: “Light therapy improves sleep and psycho-behavioral symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and has relatively few side effects, suggesting that it may be a promising treatment option for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. »
More information:
Qinghui Meng et al, The effect of light therapy on sleep disturbances and psychobehavioral symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analysis, PLoS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293977. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti …journal.pone.0293977
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