Light therapy reduced depressive symptoms and normalized circadian rhythms among cancer survivors, according to brand-new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai presented today at the American Psychosomatic Society in Denver, CO.
Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Northwestern University in Chicago, University of Iowa, University of California in San Diego and Reykjavik University in Iceland randomly divided 54 cancer survivors in to a bright white light or a dim red light group. Participants were offered along with a light box and asked to usage it for 30 mins every morning for four weeks. Depressive symptoms and circadian activity rhythms were measured before, throughout and 3 months after finishing the light exposures to identify the effectiveness of light therapy.
“Depressive symptoms are common among cancer survivors also years after treatment has actually ended,” said Heiddis Valdimarsdottir, PhD, Associate Professor of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and lead author of the study. “This interferes along with general quality of life and puts survivors at risk for inadequate outcomes including death.”
Patients exposed to the bright light went through improvement in depressive symptoms while those exposed to the dim red light went through no modification in symptoms.
“Our findings suggest light therapy, a quite non-invasive therapy, could give an innovative means to lower depression among cancer survivors,” said William Redd, PhD, Professor of Oncological Sciences at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and co-author of the study.
Most patients face some degree of depression, anxiety, and fear as quickly as cancer comes to be Section of their lives. According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 4 individuals along with cancer have actually clinical depression.
“The great news is that depression can easily be treated, and bright light therapy is a potentially efficient brand-new treatment option,” said Dr. Valdimarsdottir.
###
About the Mount Sinai Healthiness System
The Mount Sinai Healthiness System is an integrated Healthiness system committed to offering distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured about seven hospital campuses and a solitary medical school, the Healthiness System has actually an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services–from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.
The System involves about 6,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-undertaking ambulatory surgery centers; much more compared to 140 ambulatory practices throughout the 5 boroughs of brand-new York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community Healthiness centers. Physicians are affiliated along with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Healthiness funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked as among the nation’s best 10 hospitals in Geriatrics, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, and Gastroenterology, and is in the best 25 in 5 various other specialties in the 2015-2016 “Finest Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & Globe Report. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital likewise is ranked in seven from 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & Globe Report. The brand-new York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel is ranked regionally.
For much more information, visit http://www. mountsinai. org or discover Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not accountable for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the usage of any sort of guide through the EurekAlert system.