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From the Townsend Letter
November 2007

 

A New "Light" on Color Light Therapy:
Visual Color Therapy and the Effect on Disease Conditions
by Harold Steinberg DC, CCN, DABCN

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Looking at rainbows has always affected me in a wonderful way. I have found rainbows both exciting to look at and yet quite relaxing. My interest in color was reawakened in high school physics class and then expanded in college physics. As a chiropractor, I use vibration therapy in the office for many of my patients. Homeopathy is a vibrational energy product, as is ultrasound and cold laser therapy. Yet, I had forgotten about light as a therapy until seven years ago, when a fellow practitioner interested me in its benefits. More recently, that interest in light energy increased when I met an inventor of a color light machine that consists of LED light sources. The "CHROMA" machine presents the primary colors, as well as the multitude of color combinations.

The white light source, like the sunlight, breaks down to seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Another way to describe the colorspectrum is to talk about wavelength refraction. The longer waves are less refracted than the shorter waves. The wavelengths are a function of vibrations or energy. The electromagnetic spectrum can be seen as a continuous range of waves extending from radio waves to gamma waves.

In the visible spectrum, red, with the longest frequency, has the lowest vibration rate, and violet, with the shortest frequency, has the highest vibration rate. The colors we see, or the various wavelengths, affect our vision. When we see black, we are seeing the absence of all color; when we see white, we see all the colors at once. In addition to the seven major colors in the spectrum listed above, five other colors add to the wave frequencies: lemon, magenta, turquoise, purple, and scarlet.

A History of Treatment
Mankind has used the sun's energy as a source of healing medicine. The ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Chinese brought their sick outdoors and used the sunlight as a healing tool. The use of sunlight and gems were employed in treatment protocols. Sir Isaac Newton used spectrum analysis to investigate the colors in white light. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe researched the world of color and looked at how color affected a person's feeling and psyche. Professor Niels Finsen researched color therapy and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1903 for his work, which explained that different colors had different energies. These different energies or vibrations caused different reactions to the human psyche and the human body. In the last century, light therapy had been discussed by Dr. Babbitt, Dr. Kate Baldwin, and, more recently, Dr. Gumbel.

In 1933, Mr. Dinshah P. Ghadiali researched the use of color in medical conditions and documented these in his Spectro-Chrome Encyclopedia, which was summarized in his son's book, Let There Be Light. Mr. Dinshah determined that certain energy vibrations for unique colors stimulate or depress the energy flowing to specific organs. He felt that any energy disturbances to any organ could create a disease condition. (The earlier work associated different colors with specific organs of the body, and the body then was divided into areas on which color tonations were projected for an hour or more. The procedure was time-consuming, and the skin on those areas had to be unclothed.) The human body will absorb the light waves, which can affect glandular and nervous systems of the body. This includes the endocrine system and thus, as we know, the creation of vitamin D. The effect of light and color can also affect one's mood, as is seen in the effects of Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD), a condition that arises when exposure to sunlight is diminished.

Following previous research, other questions arose: could the eyes be used to capture the color wavelengths, instead of using the whole body as a receiving element? A plan was developed to test the effect of colors on people who suffered from chronic conditions. It was believed that the light source would enter the eye and not be extended over the body. The connection between the optical response and the brain and cranial nerves is important, and more discussion of the impact of cranial nerve interactions is needed. When the light source enters the eye, the optic nerve carries color to the brain, and the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are affected. Either the "flight or fight" or the "rest" response will be affected.

In Bischoff's Microscopic Analysis of the Anastomoses between the Cranial Nerves, Bischoff presents the work he did he did in 1863-1864 and published in 1865. The communication between cranial nerves is presented in his thesis. This could address the effect the optic nerve can have on the vagus nerve, digestion, and heart rates. According to Bischoff, light entering the eyes, as photon wavelengths, is captured by the optic nerve, which is a cranial nerve, and the image is sent to the brain for recognition. The light also radiates into the blood capillaries behind the retina where the photon electron transport is occurring. The optic cranial nerve may communicate to other cranial nerves – for example, the vagus nerve – which then will have an effect on the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous systems. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, the digestive system slows down. Whereas when the parasympathetic system is activated, digestion continues. In the studies we report upon in this article, conditions considered were diabetes, eczema, Beurger's disease/phlebitis, HBP, lupus, tiredness, and no admitted symptoms.

On June 15,2006 we began an experiment to see the effect of light on specific medical conditions. These research experiments used a multi colored Light Emitting Diode, LED, light source, the "CHROMA" or Chroma light activator (CLA) (Figure 24), and a microscope for live and dried blood analysis. We looked at blood as a research tool that was easy to sample and quickly see any changes that occurred. The initial step was to take blood samples from the participants before the experiment. We then took samples after a light source was shone into the eyes of the participants. The colors employed were suggested in Mr. Dinshah's book, but they were modified based upon Applied Kinesiology and comments made by the participants. His research listed disease conditions and recommended "gel" color sources applied to areas of the body. The client's optimum colors were used, but the eye was the source of entry. The experiments were looking for changes in heart rate, blood sugar levels for diabetes, and parasympathetic/sympathetic changes that would affect digestive changes occurring in the blood. We also took into account any comments made by the participants.

BEURGERS DISEASE/PHLEBITIS
On 6/15/06, Mr. A. presented with Beurger's disease/phlebitis. Mr. A could not stand nor walk without substantial pain. He was told his left leg needed to be amputated within weeks. Figure 1 is a photo of his left leg before treatment. Figure 2 shows the thickness of his blood before treatment. His blood improvements with CHROMA purple and CHROMA magenta can be seen. A follow-up visit on 6/19/06, using Magenta, showed improvements in leg coloration and blood movement and flow (Figures 3, 4, and 4a).

Beurger's disease/phlebitis
Figure 1 – Left Leg Before Treatment

 

live blood
Figure 2 – Live Blood Before Treatment

 

Beurger's disease/phlebitis
Figure 3 – Right Leg After First Treatment -Magenta

 

live blood
Figure 4 – Live Blood After Magenta

 

Beurger's disease/phlebitis
Figure 4a – Left Leg After Two Treatments

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November 6, 2007

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