Introduction and history – Activeforever Quasar MD Plus Advanced Light Therapy Device User Manual
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Introduction and History
Light Therapy has been in use for over 100 years. In 1903, Niels Finson was
awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on UV rays and various skin conditions
which showed a success rate of 98% in thousands of cases, mostly lupus, a
autoimmune disease of skin and connective tissue. Before the invention of
antibiotics, in the 1930s and 1940s, blood irradiation with light was used by
American Doctors Emmett Knott and George Miley to treat a multitude of
maladies with great success. In 445 cases of acute infections, early diagnoses
showed a 100% recovery rate; moderately advanced cases showed a 98%
recovery rate and even in apparently moribund cases showed a 45% recovery
rate.
With the invention of antibiotics and the hope that all diseases could be cured
with modern chemistry, American interest in light therapy subsided, but interest
renewed in eastern countries in the 1960s through 1990s. In 1967, Hungarian
scientist Endre Mester began work with LASERs to see if they would cause
cancer. He found not only that they did not cause cancer, but they actually aided
in the healing of wounds. From the 1980s to present, Russian scientists
continued the work of Knott and Miley and have made progress towards the
explanation of the root chemical causation of helpful benefits of light therapy and
actually introducing light therapy as a normal part of Russian medical practice.
In the 1990s, NASA (National Aeronautic and Space Administration) began doing
light therapy research as a part of long term space flight crew health
maintenance. Their findings supported Russian research on the light therapy and
renewed interest in light therapy in the United States. Because of technical
complications in using lasers and also due to inherent dangers, research moved
to the use of low level light therapy using single wavelength light emitting diodes
in place of lasers. Sometimes called “cold lasers”, the advent of these devices
allowed light therapy to move away from medical offices to Estheticians, Day
Spas, and non medical skin care facilities.
Today, light therapy has been shown in independent research worldwide to
deliver powerful therapeutic benefits to living tissues and organisms. Clinically,
there have been no recorded side effects in over 1,700 publications.
Both visible red and infrared light have been shown to promote at least 24
different positive changes at the cellular level. Light radiation must be absorbed
to produce a biological response. All biological systems have a unique absorption
spectrum which determines which wavelengths of radiation will be absorbed to
produce a given therapeutic effect. The visible red and infrared portions of the
spectrum have been shown to be highly absorbent and produce unique
therapeutic effects in living tissues.
16. Clinically, using low power light therapy, there have been no recorded side
effects in over 1700 publications.