Infrared lights would be effective in treating the depressionaccording 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 cure them for a long time.
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 classified on a scale of 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 are affected by depression severe. Then, they subjected the patients to a care protocol with infrared lights.
This infrared light hyperthermia device heated their chests and legs. After an hour and a half of exposure, their body temperature rose to 38.5 degrees, close to a moderate fever.
To establish a comparison, 14 of the volunteers underwent a “placebo test” with fans and low-heat lights.
Warmth like the sun improves the 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 depression improved an average of 5.67 points more on the baseline scale than 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 alter brain function. In other words, the heat transmitted through 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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