Intense light may boost heart health
19 August, 2019
A novel use of intense light therapy may help decrease the tissue damage experienced during heart attacks, reveals new research in mice.
The study, out of the University of Colorado and appearing in the journal Cell Reports, shows that exposing lab mice to intense light for a week improved their outcomes after heart attacks.
The research also suggests that this procedure could benefit humans, and the researchers outline the reason why.
"We already knew that intense light can protect against heart attacks, but now we have found the mechanism behind it," says the study's senior author Dr. Tobias Eckle, professor of anesthesiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.
Boosting specific gene protects heart
In the study, the researchers discovered that intense light influences the functions of the PER2 gene, which is expressed by a part of the brain that controls circadian rhythms.
By boosting this gene through intense light therapy, the researchers discovered that the mice's heart tissue received extra protection when it experienced issues with oxygen, such as during a heart attack.
Additionally, this intense light also heightened cardiac adenosine, which is a specialized chemical that helps with blood flow regulation. In concert, both benefits helped protect heart health.
Also, when they studied the mice, the researchers found that being able to physically perceive light was vital, as blind mice experienced no benefits from the intense light.
Humans had similar benefits
The next step was to see if humans could benefit from light therapy. The researchers worked with healthy human volunteers and exposed them to 30 minutes of intense light.
On five consecutive mornings, the researchers exposed the participants to 10,000 lumens of light and drew blood several times.
The researchers found that PER2 levels increased in response to light therapy in the human participants as it did in the mice. They also reported that the human volunteers saw a decreased level of plasma triglycerides and improved metabolism.
Dr. Eckle explained that light plays an essential part in human health, not only in regulating the circadian rhythm but in cardiovascular health as well.
He adds that according to prior studies, more people throughout the U.S. experience heart attacks during the darker months of winter, even in states that traditionally get more sunshine, such as Hawaii and Arizona.
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