Acne vulgaris is a common disease, accounting for over 30 percent of visits to dermatology clinics. There is a range of treatments but some are accompanied by side effects such as a burning sensation and resistance to antibiotics. The search for alternative treatments thus continues, and light emitting diode (LED) has been recently touted.
A research team led by Prof. Suh Dae-hun at Seoul National University Hospital and Prof. Lee Jee-bum at Chonnam National University Hospital showed through clinical research that it is really effective.
“Blue and red lights have been reported to have beneficial effects for acne through distinct mechanisms. However, there has been no double blind randomized study for a combination of blue and red light emitting diode phototherapy,” they noted in the research.
Irradiation from blue visible light has been known to combat acne through a process that leads to bacterial destruction, while red light has also been reported to have anti-inflammatory properties. However, this wasn’t backed up by clinical tests.
A group of acne patients being treated in the study underwent irradiation from blue and red light, using an LED device from Ceragem Medisys, for 2.5 minutes twice daily for four weeks. The control group, meanwhile, was exposed to a placebo device. After 12 weeks, the treatment group saw both inflammatory and non-inflammatory acne lesions decrease by 77 percent and 54 percent, respectively, while there wasn’t a significant difference in the control group. There were no severe adverse reactions reported.
“It is noticeable that clinical efficacy was comparable with topical retinoids and antibiotics, which have been recommended as first line therapies in the treatment of mild to moderate acne with fewer side effects. Considering that these medications may cause various side effects including irritation and antibiotic resistance, this phototherapy could be an alternative treatment option if large scale studies supporting consistent evidence are pursued,” the research noted.
It was published in the 2012 December edition of the British Journal of Dermatology.
Source: Koreatimes