Laser light therapy trials raise hope for Parkinson’s disease sufferers
People with Parkinson’s disease have a new treatment available, with a laser light trial in Adelaide helping them get back into the garden, go shopping and even play the piano again.
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An Adelaide trial using laser lights on people with Parkinson’s disease has shown such promising results it is being expanded. A year-long trial of 40 patients at Flinders University, funded by the Hospital Research Foundation Group, will start by March.
Patients have returned to playing the piano, being able to shop, carry groceries and garden more easily, in a treatment by treated by Dr Ann Liebert, co-founder of Australian health technology company Symbyx.
In the initial trial, a dozen volunteers with the condition used the laser lights in a clinical setting for 12 weeks, and then for a further 40 weeks at home, to stimulate dopamine production.
Patients were assessed by a neurologist before the trial and through the year-long treatment.
Results published in neurology journal BMC Neurology found measures of mobility, cognition, dynamic balance and fine motor skill were significantly improved with the treatment for up to one year.
“Many individual improvements were above the minimal clinically important difference, the threshold judged to be meaningful for participants,” the journal states.
“Individual improvements varied but many continued for up to one year with sustained home treatment. No side effects were observed.”
The journal noted that: “Improvements were maintained for as long as treatment continued, for up to one year in a neurodegenerative disease where decline is typically expected.
“Home treatment by the person themselves or with the help of a carer might be an effective therapy option.”
Based on the Adelaide results, another more detailed trial is beginning in Sydney followed by the Flinders University project and one in Canada.
The Flinders study will be broken into three groups including one that will have a fake light for eight weeks to see if there is a placebo effect, before they are given the real device.
Parkinson’s South Australia partially funded the initial Adelaide trial for the therapy, known as photobiomodulation, in which the light penetrates the outer layer of skin to stimulate deeper cells.
The light was used across the abdomen, head, nose and neck.
Parkinson’s disease is an incurable, progressive neurological condition caused by a lack of dopamine, a chemical to help initiate and control body movement.
Symptoms can include muscle rigidity, tremor, difficulty walking, difficulty swallowing and loss of sense of smell.
Symbyx chief executive Dr Wayne Markman said the devices use non-thermal (heating) laser lights directed to the patient’s gut to promote increased dopamine production.
“What most people don’t know is that about half of our dopamine actually comes from the gut,” Dr Markman said.
“Using Symbyx handheld lasers and treatment protocols, patients are able to stimulate their gut microbiome to take over and do some of the heavy lifting, in terms of dopamine manufacturing.”
Margaret’s back in the garden
Margaret Jarrett, 75, of Salisbury East, is thrilled she took part in the Adelaide trial after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 10 years ago.
Her gait improved after the very first treatment so her shopping bags no longer banged into her leg.
“Then after month my sense of smell returned — I suddenly could smell a sausage sizzle and the onions for the first time in years,” she recalls.
“I could get out and about in the garden again which is important to me, and as an unexpected bonus even my irritable bowel syndrome improved.
“It was easy to use – wearing a helmet with lights three times a week for about 20 minutes, then using the hand held device for about 10 minutes.”
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