Hope For Alzheimer's

"Photobiomodulation introduces the therapeutic effect of light into our brain. It triggers the body to restore its natural balance or homeostasis. When we do that, we call upon the body's innate ability to heal."
"We have a much bigger ambition than the drug trials. Drug developers are mainly either seeking to slow the mental decline in diagnosed cases, or to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease by intervening at the pre-symptomatic stage."
"Based on early data, we are confident of seeing some measure of recovery in the symptoms, not just a slowdown in the rate of decline, even in moderate to severe cases."
Dr.Lew Lim, CEO, Vielight Inc.

The Vielight Neuro RX Gamma device in use.

In Canada, an estimated half-million Canadians are living currently with Alzheimer's disease. In the United States that number is around 5.8 million. New cases diagnosed every year number around 25,000 in Canada, a total number expected to rise in Canada by 66 percent for a total of 937,000 people by the year 2031. Since the U.S. has about ten times the population of Canada, the diagnosed incidence of Alzheimer's onset is quite similar in each population base. Worldwide the number of those living with Alzheimer's is around 50 million, although it would appear that only one in four sufferers has been diagnosed, according to Alzheimer's Disease International.

"In spite of substantial efforts to establish effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, progress has been, unfortunately, limited and a cure does not yet exist."
"Although not conventional as an Alzheimer’s disease solution, we look forward to investigating the potential of Vielight’s technology in the treatment of this difficult disease based on promising early evidence."
Dr. Corinne Fischer, principal investigator, St.Michael's Hospital, Toronto

The light is directed at specific areas of the brain known to be damaged in Alzherimer's Credit: Vielight

Currently, there is no treatment for Alzheimer's to cure the condition or to prevent its onset, although drug treatment has succeeded in slowing its progress in a minor way. The drug that appeared to give the most hope for the future, Biogen's aducanumah has been seen to slow dementia onset, but that appears the extent of its efficacy. No new drugs have been developed in almost two decades. Scientists have by and large surrendered their hope of reversing brain damage, once it has occurred.

On the near horizon, however, another treatment has recently emerged and has undergone initial clinical trials.

Resulting in the first major trial to determine whether light therapy might turn out to be beneficial for dementia. Early findings have astounded the scientific world, when people have been seen to regain memory, their reading and writing capability and have realized restored orientation, all negatively impacted and increasingly diminished by Alzheimer's. Should the trial ultimately be deemed successful it would represent the first treatment enabling the reversal of the disease's steady brain and body decline.


The focus of the trial is a device named the Neuro RX Gamma headset, developed by Vielight, a biotech company based in Toronto. A process called "photobiomodulation" has been devised where parts of the brain known to be damaged in dementia are exposed to pulses of near-infrared light. Using LEDs on a headset, the device fires 4 Hz gamma waves directly into the skull. The hippocampus, part of the brain connected to memory, sees additional light channeled up the patient's nose by use of a separate nasal clip.

A pilot trial to test the effects of home photobiomodulation (PBM) on cognitive and behavioral function, cerebral perfusion and functional connectivity in eight patients with dementia was administered in a home setting three times weekly with the use of the Vielight Neuro Gamma device pulsing at 40 Hz. Participants were assessed at 6 and 12 weeks. Following 12 weeks of use improvements were seen in all indices. Should the trial prove to be the success that early results appear to indicate, people suffering with Alzheimer's would be able to self-administer their treatments at home with use of the light-emitting device.

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning—thinking, remembering, and reasoning—and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for basic activities of daily living.

The causes of dementia can vary, depending on the types of brain changes that may be taking place. Other dementias include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia. It is common for people to have mixed dementia—a combination of two or more types of dementia. For example, some people have both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

National Institute on Aging, U.S.