College of Health and Human Services, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
College of Health and Human Services, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Sciences, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
J Photochem Photobiol B. 2020 Jun;207:111891. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.111891. Epub 2020 May 1.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19, which continues to ravage communities with high death tolls and untold psychosocial and catastrophic economic consequences, is a vivid reminder of nature's capacity to defy contemporary healthcare. The pandemic calls for rapid mobilization of every potential clinical tool, including phototherapy-one of the most effective treatments used to reduce the impact of the 1918 "Spanish influenza" pandemic. This paper cites several studies showing that phototherapy has immense potential to reduce the impact of coronavirus diseases, and offers suggested ways that the healthcare industry can integrate modern light technologies in the fight against COVID-19 and other infections. The evidence shows that violet/blue (400-470 nm) light is antimicrobial against numerous bacteria, and that it accounts for Niels Ryberg Finsen's Nobel-winning treatment of tuberculosis. Further evidence shows that blue light inactivates several viruses, including the common flu coronavirus, and that in experimental animals, red and near infrared light reduce respiratory disorders, similar to those complications associated with coronavirus infection. Moreover, in patients, red light has been shown to alleviate chronic obstructive lung disease and bronchial asthma. These findings call for urgent efforts to further explore the clinical value of light, and not wait for another pandemic to serve as a reminder. The ubiquity of inexpensive light emitting lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs), makes it relatively easy to develop safe low-cost light-based devices with the potential to reduce infections, sanitize equipment, hospital facilities, emergency care vehicles, homes, and the general environment as pilot studies have shown.
最近爆发的 COVID-19 疫情继续在社区肆虐，造成高死亡率和无法言喻的心理社会和灾难性经济后果，这生动地提醒人们大自然有能力对抗当代医疗保健。大流行需要迅速调动每一种潜在的临床工具，包括光疗——这是用于减轻 1918 年“西班牙流感”大流行影响的最有效治疗方法之一。本文引用了几项研究表明，光疗具有巨大的潜力，可以减轻冠状病毒疾病的影响，并提出了医疗保健行业可以将现代光技术整合到 COVID-19 和其他感染的治疗中的建议方法。有证据表明，紫光/蓝光（400-470nm）对许多细菌具有抗菌作用，这也是尼尔斯·吕贝格·芬森 (Niels Ryberg Finsen) 获得诺贝尔奖治疗结核病的原因。进一步的证据表明，蓝光可以使几种病毒失活，包括普通流感冠状病毒，并且在实验动物中，红光和近红外光可以减轻呼吸障碍，类似于与冠状病毒感染相关的并发症。此外，在患者中，已经证明红光可以缓解慢性阻塞性肺疾病和支气管哮喘。这些发现呼吁紧急努力进一步探索光的临床价值，而不是等待另一场大流行来提醒我们。廉价的发光激光和发光二极管 (LED) 的普及使得开发安全、低成本的基于光的设备相对容易，这些设备具有减少感染、对设备、医院设施、急救车辆、家庭和一般环境进行消毒的潜力，正如初步研究所示。
