ALSUntangled #60: light therapy

Abstract

ALSUntangled reviews alternative and off-label treatments for people with ALS. Here we review light therapy. We show that it has theoretically plausible mechanisms, three flawed pre-clinical data, studies, and one incompletely documented case report supporting its use. We explain why further studies are needed to determine whether any specific light therapy protocol can help people with ALS.

Keywords:

• Light
• energy
• alternative therapy
• epidemiology
• ethics
• therapy

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Aleksander Videnovic for reviewing the manuscript and providing helpful comments.

Declaration of interest

ALSUntangled is sponsored by the ALS Association. Richard Bedlack has research support from ALSA, Orion, MediciNova, and the Healey Center, and consulting support from Alexion, ALSA, Amylyx, Biogen, Brainstorm Cell, Guidepoint, ITF Pharma, Mallinkrodt, New Biotic, Orphazyme, and Woolsey Pharma.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association.