Helmet May Reverse Alzheimer's Symptoms

Beams Infrared Light Into Brain To Stimulate Cell Growth; May Start To Work In Weeks

(CBS)  British researchers are testing a helmet they say may be able to start to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in weeks -- if patients wear it for ten minutes a day.

It aims low levels of infrared light at the wearer's brain, and researchers believe that may stimulate the growth of brain cells.

Dr. Gordon Dougal, director of medical research at medical research company Virulite, developed the helmet, which doesn't have a name yet. He says it may be on the market as soon as a year from now.

Tests at the University of Sunderland found that infra-red light can reverse memory loss in mice.

Human trails are set for this summer.

Dougal explained to Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Monday that, "How we hope it's going to work is that the infrared light will be facing inside the helmet onto the actual person, onto their skin, onto their brain, and actually goes on the frontal part of the bones, so it goes onto the actual front part of the brain and the side of the brain. The side of the head and their skull are relatively thin, so the light will penetrate the skull and treat the underlying brain tissue. And the top of the head is also quite thin, and the light will penetrate the brain tissue at that point.

"These are the crucial parts of the brain where your personality, memory and cognitive function are carried out.

"The back part of the brain is more motor function and more associated with vision, which perhaps is not as affected by age-related memory loss than perhaps the front part of the brain."

Dougal says his stepfather has shown significant improvement since he began wearing the helmet several years ago "for possibly six minutes twice a day, and it took about a month for us to notice an improvement. ... He was remembering things better. He was being able to actually think better. He was able to articulate better. In effect, you know, he could drive himself around better. He could do almost everything better."

Dougal told CBS News his stepfather "went from someone who had trouble finding his keys to someone who could drive across the country in long trips. He is now 81 and deteriorating, but it gave him a good six or seven more years of competence."

[jonsid2]

Do you think if I just put a black plastic bag over my head and sit in the sun for 10 minutes a day it would work just as well? I''m 70 and I need to know.

[olkat]

I am a caregiver/wife of an Alzheimer patient. The segment that the morning show used this morning makes me angry and sad. Alzheimers is not a mental disease...it''s physical. No amount of ''rays'' from a makeshift helmet can heal the plaque that breaks the brain circuits in Alzheimers paitients. I''m happy that it worked on his stepfather...but his stepfather probably doesn''t have Alzheimer disease if it did. CBS reaches millions of people each morning and it saddens me that even one will believe this man and have hope for their loved ones. I wish your editors would have done some more research before they produced this one. We live with this disease every day..and if more is not done to help find a cure, you can be sure a family member or loved one of yours is going to be faced with it in the near future. Thank you.

[brycej817]

While magnetic and high frequency waves may penetrate the brain, I am skeptical that infra-red waves which are low frequency could do anything other than warm the hair and skin (and maybe give you sunburn if you are bald).

[matter77]

Don''t be so snotty-skeptical. Haven''t they already established the importance of sunlight in combating depression? Many soft tissues, including the skin which is the body''s largest organ of all, produce Vitamin D and several other vital chemicals when exposed to UV.
Women have been warned for so long to avoid exposure to the sun, to avoid cosmetic damage. Because of this we have an epidemic of clinical depression. A depressed person, in turn, doesn''t want to go out. This also causes colon cancer. People get caught in a spiral. All this is well known, indeed, many treatment centers use UV to combat depression. So, is it so unthinkable it could have a beneficial effect in Alzheimer patients?
How do you know it is nonsense??? If you''re hoping so badly for a cure to come along, do you think it has to be in the form of another complicated and expensive chemical administered by shots or pills with a host of other side-effects? Is that all you can think of?
Good grief. I think CBS did the right thing. If it doesn''t work out, then we''ll see. I remember when the Australian reseachers announced stomach ulcers were caused by a virus. They were laughed at by people like you for ten years.

[matter77]

And don''t jump all over me that Alzheimers is not the same as clinical depression. I KNOW THAT. There is a lot of other research into Alzheimers going on, from a lot of different angles. Are you opposed to them all?
Also, there is no comparison between magnetic and radio frequency waves, and UV. Different emissions have completely different effects. Some kill, others are necessary for life.

[redsky8]

Yeah, I''m a bit reticent to accept this too. Can CBS publish a link to the primary research publication? In the 21st century, it''s hard to believe news sources don''t make a habit of doing this, especially on science related articles. This is just a citation. That''s all we want, so we can evaluate the validity of the research for ourselves. And if a peer-reviewed journal article does NOT exist, CBS should never carry such a story. This is common sense in academia. CHEERS.

[enriquecaliente]

Don''t let them fool you, it''s all about mind control. Once they''ve gotten everyone to think that it works. They''ll tell you that everyone should use it as a precaution against the disease. What you won''t know is that they''re re-programing your mind. Big brother at work.

[geoduck90]

The citation for the mouse paper is likely this:
Michalikova S, Ennaceur A, van Rensburg R, Chazot PL.
Emotional responses and memory performance of middle-aged CD1 mice in a 3D maze: Effects of low infrared light. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2007 Sep 11; [Epub ahead of print]

I''m not surprised that Virulite anticipates quick marketing approval for their helmet device. In the US, you don''t have to prove that the infrared device does anything beneficial--you just have to prove that it emits infrared light and that it doesn''t harm anything. The only problem is if they start marketing the device as an Alzheimer''s therapy...then they will have a long road ahead.

[satx-101]

"Human trails are set for this summer."
O good, now i kin lurn speling.

[toolmangler-2009]

Do you think if I just put a black plastic bag over my head and sit in the sun for 10 minutes a day it would work just as well? I''''m 70 and I need to know.
Posted by jonsid2 at 10:24 AM : Jan 28, 2008



If you are 70, then you know what a stroke is (heat or otherwise), I wouldn''t do that if I were you and we are close to the same age, (I just don''t want the girls to know.)

[bobnjersey]

[Do you think if I just put a black plastic bag over my head and sit in the sun for 10 minutes a day it would work just as well? I''''m 70 and I need to know.][Posted by jonsid2 at 10:24 AM : Jan 28, 2008]

well ... it would at least place the alzheimers lower on your list of problems.

[incog-nito]

This hat may well cure your Alzheimer''s, but then you won''t have any friends to speak of anyway.

[flreason]

"If you are 70, then you know what a stroke is (heat or otherwise)..."
Posted by ToolMangler

Your observations bring up an interesting question: would this treatment work for people with high blood pressure? It would stand to reason that the heat produced by the infrared treatment might result in a rise in brain/body temperature, which could raise blood pressure. It may be that the short duration of the treatment would minimize the risk. However, one wonders if a human trial of less than a year would be sufficient to accurately gauge the potential risks of long-term treatment.

[flreason]

Perhaps the title of the final paper will be "Of Mice and Men?" LOL.

[dharlander]

I have watched many of Father''s family (including now my father) suffer and die from Alzheimer''s. My father is in the moderate stage, and I will tell you this. If there was even the slightest chance that this might break up those plaques and even stop his disease where it is, what harm would it do to try it. His father, brother, and two sister have been afflicted by this disease, and there will probably be more (he is one of 12). And yes, I fear that is might be my or my siblings future as well. I hope this would work. Maybe there could be something that doesn''t come in the form of a pharaceutical.

[rational_1]

It would stand to reason that the heat produced by the infrared treatment might result in a rise in brain/body temperature, which could raise blood pressure.
Posted by flreason at 06:21 PM : Jan 28, 2008

I doubt that''s a concern. The brain gets such a huge blood supply that it would dissipate the heat produced. The infrared idea is an interesting approach. I''ve never heard of this before and wonder about its mechanism of action.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
or http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachrichten/nachricht/2240413.html
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
or http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachrichten/nachricht/2240413.html
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
or http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachrichten/nachricht/2240413.html
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
or http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachrichten/nachricht/2240413.html
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.

[librarianiow]

It seems that it also cures cold sores: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94627.php
or http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachrichten/nachricht/2240413.html
miraculous! Now both my parents need one.