Photobiomodulation (LLLT) treats many COVID problems - many studies

Photobiomodulation (LLLT) has been found, over the past 20 years, to treat many portions of the body.
The Modulation is VERY important, but rarely described by manufacturers
Modulation (pulse rate & duty cycle) must be known to understand the benefits,
   and replicate the treatment, but is rarely described
Most PBM devices do not have enough intensity (need > 2 watts per laser diode) to illuminate deep inside the human body
   Diodes do not have 1/100th the light intensity of laser diodes

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Home-use Photobiomodulation Device Treatment Outcomes for COVID-19 pre-print RCT June 2022

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.16.22276503
Lew Lim, Nazanin Hosseinkhah, Mark V. Buskirk, Andrea Berk, Genane Loheswaran, Zara Abbaspour, Mahta Karimpoor, Alison Smith, Yoke N. Au, Kai F Ho, Abhiram Pushparaj, Michael Zahavi, Alexander White, Jonathan Rubine, Brian Zidel, Christopher Henderson, Russell G. Clayton Sr., David R. Tingley, David J. Miller, Mahroo Karimpoor, Michael R. Hamblin

BACKGROUND There is a need for non-pharmaceutical treatments for COVID-19. A home-use photobiomodulation (PBM) device was tested as Treatment in a randomized clinical trial.

METHODS 294 patients were randomized with equal allocation to Treatment or Standard of Care (Control). 199 qualified for efficacy analyses. The Treatment group self-treated for 20 minutes twice daily, for the first 5 days, and subsequently once daily for 30 days. A validated respiratory questionnaire was used, and patients were monitored remotely. The primary endpoint was the time-to-recovery (3 consecutive days of no sickness) for general sickness. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox Proportional Hazards model were primary methods of analyses.

RESULTS Treatment patients with collective 0-12 days of symptoms, at moderate-to-severe level on Day 1 of Treatment, did not recover significantly faster than Control.
However, for patients with 0-7 days of symptoms there was a significant mean difference of 3 days: Treatment, 18 days (95% CI, 13-20) vs. Control, 21 days (95% CI, 15-28), P=0.050. The Treatment:Control hazard ratio at 1.495 (95% CI, 0.996-2.243), P=0.054 exceeded the pre-trial target of 1.44. Treated patients exceeding 7 days symptoms duration were more tired and had lower energy. None of the patients in the Treatment group suffered death or hospitalization while the Control group had 1 death and 3 severe adverse events requiring hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS Patients with up to 7 days of symptoms at moderate-to-severe levels on first day of Treatment can expect faster recovery for general sickness and several respiratory symptoms. (Funded by Vielight Inc.; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04418505.)
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Note by VitaminDWiki - there is no indication as to the wavelength, intensity, and modulation used

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Majority of COVID-caused problems were treated in 4 PBM sessions - Oct 2021

Whole-organ transdermal photobiomodulation (PBM) of COVID-19: A 50-patient case study
Richard K. Williams, John Raimondo, David Cahn, Aldon Williams, Daniel Schell
Journal of Biophotonics https://doi.org/10.1002/jbio.202100194

A nonrandomized 50-person case study of COVID-19-positive patients was conducted employing (for the first time) a regimen of whole-organ deep-tissue transdermal dynamic photobiomodulation (PBM) as a primary (or exclusive) therapeutic modality in the treatment of coronavirus.
Therapy sessions comprised algorithmically alternating r

• red (650 nm) and
• near-infrared (NIR; 850 nm) LEDs

(with an average irradiance of 11 mW/cm2

• dynamically sequenced at multiple pulse frequencies.

Delivered via 3D bendable polymeric pads maintaining orthogonal optical incidence to body contours over 1,000 cm2 a single 84-minute session
concurrently delivered

• 20 kJ to the sinuses and
• 15 kJ to each lung

at skin temperatures below 42°C.
Therapeutic outcomes observed include significant reductions in the duration and severity of disease symptoms.
Acute conditions including

• fever,
• body aches (BA) and
• respiratory distress comprising paroxysmal coughing;
• lung congestion,
• dyspnea and hypoxia;
• sinus congestion;
• acute eye inflammation; and
• extreme malaise

were eliminated in 41/50 patients within 4 days of commencing PBM treatments
with 50/50 patients fully recovering within 3 weeks with no supplemental oxygen requirements. SpO2 concentrations improved as much as 9 points (average 2.5 points) across the entire study population. The PBM sessions required to completely resolve COVID-19 conditions appears monotonically correlated to the time-to-treatment (TTTx)—the delay between the onset of a patient's symptoms and commencing PBM therapy. In contrast, acute inflammatory symptoms were resolved
 Study
  PCM introduction and description of insturmenti
Unfortunately, no indication of pulse rate nor duty cycle - which are essential in comparing different devices

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST - from a subsequent publication

Richard K. Williams is founder, CEO, president, CTO, and a shareholder of Applied BioPhotonics, Ltd. (ABP) and co‐founder and CEO of LightMD, Inc., a member of the ABP group of global affiliates. He is also founder, CEO, and CTO of technology‐innovator Adventive Technology Ltd., and a founding member of HyperSphere.ai and several blockchain DAOs. ABP is a GMP‐certified device manufacturer, system specifier, and IP holder of medical devices and PBM therapy products.

Daniel Schell is co‐founder and president of LightMD, Inc. and a minority shareholder of ABP. Mr. Schell is not an employee of ABP. LightMD, Inc. is a US FDA‐registered, licensed importer and distributor of ABP products in the United States.

Dr. John Raimondo, Dr. David Cahn, and Dr. Aldon Williams are independently operating licensed physicians and not service providers for either company. They are not shareholders, employees or paid consultants of either LightMD or ABP and received no compensation for their involvement in performing this study. Any other doctors who assisted in this study also received no compensation. No patients were paid or charged for receiving PBM therapy in this study. No patients requesting therapy were turned away from receiving treatments.

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Light as a Cure in COVID-19: A Challenge for Medicine - Sept 2022

Photonics 2022, 9(10), 686; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100686
by Laura Marinela Ailioaie

Light and lasers, as high-tech devices whose medical potential has yet to be fully discovered, have made important contributions to medicine, even in the current pandemic. The main aim of this review was to investigate how light was applied as a therapeutic tool during a crisis triggered by COVID-19. Another goal was to encourage scientists and industry to quickly design new at-home photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) and/or antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) easy to use systems to end this pandemic, especially for those who believe in high-tech but would never get vaccinated.
This review revealed that PBMT has been successfully applied as adjunct therapy, in combination with conventional medical treatment, and as a pioneering action in SARS-CoV-2 infection,
demonstrating significant improvements in

• airway inflammation and general clinical condition of patients,
• a faster recovery,
• avoiding intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization,
• mechanical ventilation,
• mortality, and
• overcoming long-term sequelae.

Application in only a limited number of cases strongly suggests the need for future randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials to objectively determine the action and effects of PBMT in COVID-19. Implementation of unparalleled theragnostics methods and light-based techniques for disinfection of spaces, air, skin, mucosae, and textures to decrease the load of SARS-CoV-2 virus would save lives, time, and money. In this ongoing and challenging search for the seemingly intangible end of this pandemic, a non-invasive, easily accessible, safe, and side-effect-free adjuvant method appears to be PBMT, alone or in synergistic combination with aPDT, which has been shown to work in COVID-19 and opens unprecedented potential for use as home self-treatment to end the pandemic.
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Probable positive effects of the photobiomodulation as an adjunctive treatment in COVID-19: A systematic review - Jan 2021

Cytokine . 2021 Jan;137:155312. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2020.155312
Marzieh Nejatifard 1, Sohrab Asefi 2, Raika Jamali 3, Michael R Hamblin 4, Reza Fekrazad 5

Background: COVID-19, as a newly-emerged viral infection has now spread all over the world after originating in Wuhan, China. Pneumonia is the hallmark of the disease, with dyspnea in half of the patients and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in up to one -third of the cases. Pulmonary edema, neutrophilic infiltration, and inflammatory cytokine release are the pathologic signs of this disease. The anti-inflammatory effect of the photobiomodulation (PBM) has been confirmed in many previous studies. Therefore, this review study was conducted to evaluate the direct effect of PBM on the acute lung inflammation or ARDS and also accelerating the regeneration of the damaged tissues. The indirect effects of PBM on modulation of the immune system, increasing the blood flow and oxygenation in other tissues were also considered.

Methodology: The databases of PubMed, Cochrane library, and Google Scholar were searched to find the relevant studies. Keywords included the PBM and related terms, lung inflammation, and COVID-19 -related signs. Studies were categorized with respect to the target tissue, laser parameters, and their results.

Results: Seventeen related papers were included in this review. All of them were in animal models. They showed that the PBM could significantly decrease the pulmonary edema, neutrophil influx, and generation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM), reactive oxygen species (ROS), isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and macrophage inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2)).

Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the PBM could be helpful in reducing the lung inflammation and promoting the regeneration of the damaged tissue. PBM can increase the oxygenation indirectly in order to rehabilitate the affected organs. Thus, the infra-red lasers or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are recommended in this regard.
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Influence of photobiomodulation therapy on the treatment of pulmonary inflammatory conditions and its impact on COVID-19 - Oct 2021

Lasers Med Sci . 2021 Oct 25;1-9. doi: 10.1007/s10103-021-03452-5
Daniela Bezerra Macedo 1, Carla Roberta Tim 1, Hueliton Wilian Kido 2 3, Juliana Bezerra Macedo 1, Cintia Cristina Santi Martignago 2, Ana Claudia Muniz Renno 2, Glauber Bezerra Macedo 3, Lívia Assis 4

We are currently facing a pandemic that continuously causes high death rates and has negative economic and psychosocial impacts. Therefore, this period requires a quick search for viable procedures that can allow us to use safe and non-invasive clinical tools as prophylactic or even adjuvant methods in the treatment of COVID-19. Some evidence shows that photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) can attenuate the inflammatory response and reduce respiratory disorders similar to acute lung injury (ALI), complications associated with infections, such as the one caused by the new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Hence, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of PBMT (infrared low-level laser therapy) on the treatment of ALI, one of the main critical complications of COVID-19 infection, in an experimental model in rats. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to three experimental groups (n = 8): control group (CG), controlled ALI (ALI), and acute lung injury and PBM (ALIP). For treatment, a laser equipment was used (808 nm; 30 mw; 1.68 J) applied at three sites (anterior region of the trachea and in the ventral regions of the thorax, bilaterally) in the period of 1 and 24 h after induction of ALI. For treatment evaluation, descriptive histopathological analysis, lung injury score, analysis of the number of inflammatory cells, and expression of interleukin 1 β (IL-1β) were performed. In the results, it was possible to observe that the treatment with PBMT reduced inflammatory infiltrates, thickening of the alveolar septum, and lung injury score when compared to the ALI group. In addition, PBMT showed lower immunoexpression of IL-1β. Therefore, based on the results observed in the present study, it can be concluded that treatment with PBMT (infrared low-level laser therapy) was able to induce an adequate tissue response capable of modulating the signs of inflammatory process in ALI, one of the main complications of COVID-19.
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Photobiomodulation Therapy as a Possible New Approach in COVID-19: A Systematic Review - June 2021

Review Life (Basel) . 2021 Jun 18;11(6):580. doi: 10.3390/life11060580.
Brenda Thaynne Lima de Matos 1, Daniela Vieira Buchaim 2 3, Karina Torres Pomini 1 2, Sandra Maria Barbalho 2 4, Elen Landgraf Guiguer 2 4, Carlos Henrique Bertoni Reis 1 2, Cleuber Rodrigo de Souza Bueno 1, Marcelo Rodrigues da Cunha 5, Eliana de Souza Bastos Mazuqueli Pereira 2, Rogerio Leone Buchaim 1

COVID-19 is a viral disease characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Since then, researchers from all over the world have been looking for ways to fight this disease. Many cases of complications arise from insufficient immune responses due to low immunity, with intense release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that can damage the structure of organs such as the lung. Thus, the hypothesis arises that photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) with the use of a low-level laser (LLLT) may be an ally approach to patients with COVID-19 since it is effective for

• increasing immunity,
• helping tissue repair, and
• reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines.

This systematic review was performed with the use of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar databases with the following keywords: "low-level laser therapy OR photobiomodulation therapy AND COVID-19". The inclusion criteria were complete articles published from January 2020 to January 2021 in English. The exclusion criteria were other languages, editorials, reviews, brief communications, letters to the editor, comments, conference abstracts, and articles that did not provide the full text. The bibliographic search found 18 articles in the Pubmed/MEDLINE database, 118 articles on the Web of Science, 23 articles on Scopus, and 853 articles on Google Scholar. Ten articles were included for qualitative synthesis, of which four commentary articles discussed the pathogenesis and the effect of PBMT in COVID-19. Two in vitro and lab experiments showed the effect of PBMT on prevention of thrombosis and positive results in wound healing during viral infection, using the intravascular irradiation (ILIB) associated with Phthalomethyl D. Two case reports showed PBMT improved the respiratory indexes, radiological findings, and inflammatory markers in severe COVID-19 patients.
One case series reported the

• clinical improvement after PBMT on 14 acute COVID-19 patients,
• rehabilitation on 24 patients, and as a
• preventive treatment on 70 people.

One clinical trial of 30 patients with severe COVID-19 who require invasive mechanical ventilation, showed PBMT-static magnetic field was not statistically different from the placebo for the length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit, but improved diaphragm muscle function and ventilation and decreased the inflammatory markers. This review suggests that PBMT may have a positive role in treatment of COVID-19. Still, the necessity for more clinical trials remains in this field and there is not sufficient research evidence regarding the effects of PBMT and COVID-19 disease, and there is a large gap.
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Photobiomodulation and Antiviral Photodynamic Therapy in COVID-19 Management - May 2021 no PDF

Adv Exp Med Biol . 2021;1318:517-547. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-63761-3_30.
Reza Fekrazad 1 2, Sohrab Asefi 3, Maryam Pourhajibagher 4, Farshid Vahdatinia 5, Sepehr Fekrazad 6 7, Abbas Bahador 8, Heidi Abrahamse 9, Michael R Hamblin 9 10 11

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has shocked the world by its spread and contagiousness. There is no approved vaccine and no proven treatment for this infection. Some potential treatments that have already been associated with antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects are under investigation. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a photon-based therapy that uses light to mediate a variety of metabolic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Antiviral photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a branch of photodynamic therapy based on the reaction between a photosensitizing agent and a light source in the presence of oxygen, which can produce oxidative and free radical agents to damage the viral structures such as proteins and nucleic acids. This chapter aims to discuss the potential therapeutic benefit of PBMT and aPDT in the context of the novel coronavirus. Studies indicate that PBMT and aPDT could be useful in many viral and bacterial pulmonary complications like influenza, SARS-CoV, and MERS, but we found no direct study on SARS-CoV-2. With a combination of PBMT and aPDT, we may be able to combat COVID-19 with minimal interference with pharmaceutical agents. It might improve the efficacy of PBMT and aPDT by using monoclonal antibodies and preparing new photosensitizers at the nanoscale that target the lung tissue specifically. More animal and human studies would need to take place to reach an effective protocol. This chapter would encourage other scientists to work on this new platform.

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Infrared light therapy relieves TLR-4 dependent hyper-inflammation of the type induced by COVID-19 - Sept 2021

Commun Integr Biol. 2021 Sep 15;14(1):200-211. doi: 10.1080/19420889.2021
Blanche Aguida 1, Marootpong Pooam 2, Margaret Ahmad 1 3, Nathalie Jourdan 1

The leading cause of mortality from COVID-19 infection is respiratory distress due to an exaggerated host immune response, resulting in hyper-inflammation and ensuing cytokine storms in the lungs. Current drug-based therapies are of limited efficacy, costly, and have potential negative side effects. By contrast, photobiomodulation therapy, which involves periodic brief exposure to red or infrared light, is a noninvasive, safe, and affordable method that is currently being used to treat a wide range of diseases with underlying inflammatory conditions Here, we show that exposure to two 10-min, high-intensity periods per day of infrared light causes a marked reduction in the TLR-4 dependent inflammatory response pathway, which has been implicated in the onset of cytokine storms in COVID-19 patients. Infrared light exposure resulted in a significant decline in NFkB and AP1 activity as measured by the reporter gene assay; decreased expression of inflammatory marker genes IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, INF-alpha, and INF-beta as determined by qPCR gene expression assay; and an 80% decline in secreted cytokine IL6 as measured by ELISA assay in cultured human cells. All of these changes occurred after only 48 hours of treatment. We suggest that an underlying cellular mechanism involving modulation of ROS may downregulate the host immune response after Infrared Light exposure, leading to decrease in inflammation. We further discuss technical considerations involving light sources and exposure conditions to put these observations into potential clinical use to treat COVID-19 induced mortality.
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Flounder of VitaminDWiki designed, built, and has been very succesfully using a PBM device for 13 years

903 nmeter bs 804
similar high ulse rate
Similar <19 mw/square cm
LLLT, Low Level Laser Therapy, PBM and experience by VitaminDWiki

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Short URL = https://is.gd/pbmcovid