Infrared lights would be effective in treating depression, according to the results of a study presented at the Society of Biological Psychiatry conference in the United States and published in the medical journal Jama Psychiatry. Raising the body temperature of patients by 40% would allow them to be cured durably.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States were inspired by the effects of the sun on the depression.
They carried out a study with 338 volunteers, whose level of depression they analyzed and ranked on a scale from 0 to 19 according to the severity of their illness.
For scientists, a score of 0 to 7 indicates a normal state, that of 8 to 13, a mild depression, and that 14 to 18 a moderate depression. From 19 and over, patients have depression serious. Then, they subjected the patients to an infrared light treatment protocol.
This infrared light hyperthermia device warmed their chest and legs. After an hour and a half of exposure, their body temperature rose to 38.5 degrees, close to a moderate fever.
For comparison, 14 of the volunteers underwent a “placebo test” with fans and low heat lights.
Heat like the sun improves mood
The results of the study showed that after one week of treatment with infrared lights, the state of health of the 34 patients most affected by the depression improved an average of 5.67 points higher on the baseline compared to the control group, and they observed an average difference of 4.83 points after 6 weeks.
“The heat that stimulates the skin also activates serotonin-producing cells that change how the brain works. In other words, the heat transmitted by the skin makes the brain happy, ”concludes Clemens Janssen, researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the study.
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