With blue light against neurodermatitis

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MunichAtopic dermatitis has so far been treated with drugs or UV light. However, both forms of therapy can have serious side effects. Now blue light is supposed to heal the skin inflammation in a gentle way.

Detlev Becker, senior physician at the Dermatology Clinic in Mainz and colleagues examined the short-term effect of this form of therapy. The doctors treated a total of 36 patients with severe neurodermatitis with blue light. None of the study participants had responded to the otherwise usual cortisone treatment. They were exposed to blue light all over their bodies for 48 minutes on five consecutive days. This was followed by an additional treatment with cortisone.

Complaints halved

The result: the light therapy helped the cortisone to work. The skin inflammation improved in most of the patients after two to three therapy units. The so-called EASI index, a measure of the severity of neurodermatitis, fell by an average of 41 percent three months after treatment, and by as much as 54 percent after six months.

So far it is still unclear how the blue light alleviates the symptoms of neurodermatitis. "We are currently assuming that substances such as riboflavin absorb the blue light in the skin and generate reactive oxygen," said Becker. The researchers suspect that these particles could influence the immune system.

No side effects of the treatment are known yet. But the clinical study on the long-term effects of blue light therapy is still ongoing. The researchers observe neurodermatitis patients over a longer period of time. This time the blue light therapy is to be compared with a control group, which is treated conventionally.

Causes unclear

People with neurodermatitis have inflamed skin, which can result in severe itching. In some patients, the symptoms are so severe that they can no longer lead a normal life. Atopic dermatitis often affects the patient's scalp, face and hands. How the disease develops is still not fully understood. The experts only agree that genetic factors play a role. In addition, certain components of the immune system appear to be malfunctioning in atopic dermatitis patients. In some cases there is apparently a link with allergies, since the concentration of corresponding biomarkers, the IgE antibodies, is increased in the blood of patients. In other atopic dermatitis sufferers, certain structural proteins in the cornea do not function properly. (away)

Sources:

Becker D. et al .: Clinical efficacy of blue light full body irridation as treatment option for severe atopic dermatitis, PLOS ONE, June 2011, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone0020566

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