Many veterans find in their life after service that the pains associated with military duty – like heavy Kevlar helmets and 60-plus pound packs – don't just vanish upon entering the civilian world. Instead, they can often times get worse, leading to anxiety and depression. Rather than treat these mental pains with heavy doses of medication, scientists have begun to use light therapy.
Earlier this year, the Department of Veterans Affairs reported that researchers with the VA Boston Healthcare System were experimenting with the effects of light therapy on the brain functions of veterans with Gulf War illness. After pilot work produced encouraging results, the researchers had veterans wear an unusual helmet. Unlike their old Kevlars, this helmet was lined with diodes emitting red and near-infrared light to their scalps. Applied for 30 minutes at a time, the light was totally painless and without heat.
"We are applying a technology that's been around for a while," said Dr. Margaret Naeser, the research team's lead investigator, "but it's always been used on the body, for wound healing and to treat muscle aches and pains, and joint problems. We're starting to use it on the brain."
The diodes work by increasing blood flow to the brain. There is also evidence that they have some effect on damaged brain cells, as the LED therapy moves into the skull and into brain cells where the lights trigger mitochondria to produce more ATP, a chemical that can improve thinking processes.
Jacquwlyn Jackson, a former aircraft mechanic and field medic for the U.S. Navy who experienced horrible pain after returning from the Middle East, told WGN TV that after trying out the light therapy a few times "I got into a routine of preparing for bed and going to sleep and then actually sleeping thru the night. When I got up I did feel like I had actually rested and I wasn't as irritable. I would say since then I've been 90 percent pain free so that is excellent for me."