Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Silesia, Ziołowa 45/47, 40-635 Katowice, Poland.
J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2012 Oct;119(10):1167-72. doi: 10.1007/s00702-012-0863-2. Epub 2012 Jul 19.
Circadian rhythm disorders represent an important component underlying the pathology of depression. One of the subtypes of depression, in which these disorders may play a crucial role, is the seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The bright light therapy (BLT) has been reported as a novel, promising treatment method for SAD since 1984, and most of the data revealing its efficacy has been referred to adult patients, without comorbid disorders. However, in the recent years, more and more reports have been presented, which confirm the usefulness of BLT in some specific subpopulations of patients, including children, adolescents and pregnant women. The present review summarizes the applications of BLT in antepartum depression, childhood and adolescence depression as well as in patients suffering from eating disorders. Although the body of evidence is still too small to recommend the use of BLT as the first line of treatment for the depression or eating disorders in these patient subpopulations; it appears that BLT may be a useful alternative or adjunctive therapy for these diseases. However, the specific clinical applications of BLT in these areas need further investigation.
昼夜节律紊乱是抑郁症病理的重要组成部分。其中一种可能起关键作用的抑郁症亚型是季节性情感障碍（SAD）。自 1984 年以来，光疗法（BLT）已被报道为治疗 SAD 的一种新颖、有前途的方法，揭示其疗效的数据大多涉及无合并症的成年患者。然而，近年来，越来越多的报告证实了 BLT 在某些特定患者群体中的有用性，包括儿童、青少年和孕妇。本综述总结了 BLT 在产前抑郁症、儿童和青少年抑郁症以及饮食障碍患者中的应用。尽管证据仍然不足，无法推荐 BLT 作为这些患者群体中抑郁症或饮食障碍的一线治疗方法；但 BLT 似乎可能是这些疾病的一种有用的替代或辅助治疗方法。然而，BLT 在这些领域的具体临床应用仍需进一步研究。
