Infra-red Helmet May Help Alzheimer's Patients
Posted on January 28, 2008
A helmet that looks like it came from a sci-fi flick may offer real help to Alzheimer's sufferers. The Daily Mail reports that the helmet bathes the wearer with infra-red light. The helmet only needs to be worn for ten minutes each day.
Dr Dougal claims that only ten minutes under the hat a day is enough to have an effect.The reason the scientists believe the infra-red helmet may work is because there was study conducted on mice that showed infra-red treatments can reduce memory loss. It worked for mice so it might work for humans."Currently all you can do with dementia is to slow down the rate of decay - this new process will not only stop that rate of decay but partially reverse it," he said.
Low level infra-red red is thought to stimulate the growth of cells of all types of tissue and encourage their repair. It is able to penetrate the skin and even get through the skull.
"The implications of this research at Sunderland are enormous - so much so that in the future we could be able to affect and change the rate at which our bodies age," he said.
"We age because our cells lose the desire to regenerate and repair themselves. This ultimately results in cell death and decline of the organ functions - for the brain resulting in memory decay and deterioration in general intellectual performance.