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Light as Therapy for Sleep Disorders and Depression in Older Adults.

Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Proper lighting is necessary for vision and to carry out one’s daily activities. This aspect of light – light for vision – is well known by the general public and health professionals. What is less well appreciated is the large and growing body of scientific literature on light as a therapeutic agent. Indeed, although much has been documented over the past decades about its therapeutic uses, light is rarely prescribed by physicians and other health care providers. In part this is because much is yet to be understood about the optimum characteristics of light affecting our health and well-being. Published research studies have employed a wide range of light sources, quantities, spectra, and delivery schedules, without yielding a consensus as to how to optimally provide this treatment. However, under-use of light as therapy is also due to the fact that light is naturally available and thus un-patentable, making it unappealing as a research or marketing venue for industries.1 Sleep disorders and depression are extremely common in older persons, and in research trials, light therapy has shown some benefits for treating these disorders. Although drug treatments are available for both conditions, in each case the available drugs fail to work a significant proportion of the time and carry with them considerable risk of adverse effects. Therefore, health care providers treating older persons would benefit from considering light therapy as an alternative for selected patients with sleep disorders or depression. In this paper we review the physiology, scientific evidence, therapeutic uses, and cautions regarding light as a therapeutic agent for these common geriatric conditions, and provide recommendations for clinicians.
Source: PubMed
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W232247858
FWCI: 0.142
Cites: 57
Cited by: 38
Related to: 10