Continuing Efforts and Findings in PBM Research
On March 21, 2019, pharmaceutical giants Biogen and Eisai announced they were discontinuing their much-anticipated clinical trial. It was the final phase of one of the most promising Alzheimer’s Disease drugs under trials, aducanumab. This announcement was heart-breaking for those who had been holding out for it. There is no other promising drug entering late-phase trials for the next few years.
Another blow to the search for a cure for Alzheimer was made on March 27, 2019. A special advisory panel appointed by the FDA unanimously rejected Neuronix’s non-pharmaceutical effort. It involved a combination of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and brain training to treat Alzheimer.
So, is there any hope for the millions of Alzheimer’s sufferers?
Beneath the Noise
Beneath the noise and conundrum, Vielight has been quietly developing a novel solution with the Vielight Neuro RX Gamma. Just recently, in March 2019, the journal, Photobiomodulation, Photomedicine and Laser Surgery published landmark findings by the University of California at San Francisco’s Linda Chao. Prof. Chao’s controlled study reported significant cognitive improvements in dementia patients. Furthermore, for the first time, clear improvements in blood perfusion and functional connectivity were shown by fMRI imaging. Her paper, “Effects of Home Photobiomodulation Treatments on Cognitive and Behavioral Functions, Cerebral Perfusion, and Resting State Functional Connectivity in Patients with Dementia: A Pilot Study” is a validation of a paper published earlier, “Significant Improvement in Cognition in Mild to Moderately Severe Dementia Cases Treated with Transcranial Plus Intranasal Photobiomodulation: Case Series Report” (Saltmarche et al, 2017).
The significance of the recovery observed in the human subjects in these studies were unprecedented. Vielight is now heading towards the second phase of a pilot study, and this month, expect to start a multi-site pivotal study in an attempt to validate these findings.
A Light in the Dark Tunnel of Alzheimer’s Research
“It is a single intervention with multiple pathways in its mechanisms, equivalent to many drugs working at the same time. The Vielight Neuro RX Gamma fires up the body’s natural intelligence to restore systemic homeostasis — a process that corrects functional aberrances that may have caused this disease.”
There is now a light at the end of the dark tunnel of Alzheimer research. “The field of Alzheimer research is a graveyard of high-profile failures, flooring some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies and many great scientific minds in medical research,” reflects Dr. Lew Lim, Founder & CEO of Vielight. “Because we are a small company in this field taking on a goliath-sized task, it is understandable why our efforts have not been accorded the widespread recognition. However, finding a solution may not require hundreds of millions of dollars. What matters is hard reproducible scientific evidence. It could come from a new modality with a different theoretical basis — photobiomodulation as delivered by Vielight. It is a single intervention with multiple pathways in its mechanisms, equivalent to many drugs working at the same time. The Vielight Neuro RX Gamma fires up the body’s natural intelligence to restore systemic homeostasis — a process that corrects functional aberrances that may have caused this disease.”
Vielight to Participate in the Paleo f(x) 2019 
International Conference and Expo
Paleo f(x) 2019 is a large biohacking event taking place in Austin, Texas from April 26 to 28. It is also the world largest gathering of Paleo, ancestral health, keto, functional medicine and strength and conditioning experts.
Attendees can find Vielight at the booth #7. There they can learn about the potential of Vielight tech for improving the functions of the brain and the body. Using photobiomodulation, the Vielight technology offers a safe, simple and non-invasive way for improvement in general wellness.
Vielight to Present at the BFE Conference
For the first time, Vielight will showcase its technology at the Biofeedback Federation of Europe (BFE) annual conference. The BFE takes place from April 9 to 13 in Cardiff, Wales, U.K. Dr. Lew Lim is a speaker at the Photobiomodulation Symposium and will present on April 11 from 17:45 to 18:15. His presentation is titled “New Discoveries in Transcranial Photobiomodulation for Neurofeedback”. Among other speakers are Dr. Margaret Naeser, Research Professor of Neurology at Boston University, and Penijean Gracefire, an innovation leader in neurofeedback.
“This is the first time that photobiomodulation is featured in a biofeedback or neurofeedback conference,” said Dr. Lew Lim. “The recognition reflects the growing interest in this science. Particularly of importance is how it can profoundly accelerate the desired outcomes in neurofeedback treatments. Attendees at the conference may go home with new ideas on how to help their patients and themselves better.”
Vielight will also be demonstrating real-time brain response through the manipulation of the parameters using the Neuro Pro device prototype.
