Using LEDs to treat S.A.D.

Interesting article from the Anchorage Daily News. Talking about a newer, smaller LED version of the larger light boxes used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Sigman-

Great find, facinating story.

Thanks
GregR

Has anyone sat down and acutally figured out why 60 led's + a driver in a box cost $250-$300?
With the reference to blue light in the article and from the picture it seems like these are just normal while led's.
Living in Canada myself I have though of building one for kicks to see if it pep's me up during these winter months but I wanna know if I am overlooking some key or if these are just simple as they seem.

Using blue light to treat SAD may damage your eyes. I would prefer to wear blue blockers. See this thread:

LED Warning!

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OrBy said:
Has anyone sat down and acutally figured out why 60 led's + a driver in a box cost $250-$300?


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Remember what PT Barnum said? The minute anything is claimed to have medical benefits it is considered justification enough to make the price five times what it should be. I could use some Chi Wing LEDs from eBay, plus a few spare parts, and make that thing for under $20. Mass produced would be even less. The price is grossly inflated, no doubt about it.

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With the reference to blue light in the article and from the picture it seems like these are just normal while led's.


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The light normally used to treat SAD is 5000K to 5500K. Mass-produced white LEDs generally seem to fall in the 6500K to 7500K range-hence they are more a blue-white light than a pure white light. Still, interesting if it works, but then you can use small fluorescent tubes which cost less (and get greater efficiency) to accomplish the same thing. Of course, we all know and hope LEDs will eventually surpass fluorescent efficiency, become much cheaper per lumen, and get more consistent with regards to color, so maybe this is a view of things to come. This is the first I've heard of the blue component in light being the main one responsible for reducing SARS. I always thought you needed broad-spectrum light similar to sunlight.

GE makes neodymium incandescent lights under the "Reveal" brand. These lights are quite cheap for "full spectrum" lights. Maybe they would mitigate SAD???

UV LEDS might reduce SARS. Actually, I think a 600 watt aircraft landing light would be good for reducing SAD. It's nice full spectrum light with a touch of warmth.

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cheesehead said:
UV LEDS might reduce SARS.


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I doubt that a longwave ~395nm UV LED would have much of a germicidal effect, but the newer, shorter-wavelength LEDs coming out of Sandia Labs might have an effect.

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LightScene said:
GE makes neodymium incandescent lights under the "Reveal" brand. These lights are quite cheap for "full spectrum" lights. Maybe they would mitigate SAD???

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I've read that the therapeutic wavelength is either green or blue. I think that the Reveal lamps could work (so could regular incandescents, IMO) as long as you have enough of the light.

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LightScene said:
Using blue light to treat SAD may damage your eyes. I would prefer to wear blue blockers. See this thread:

LED Warning!

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I've read that the therapeutic wavelength might be green. I wonder if this would be significantly safer than blue? It would certainly be a lot less expensive!

Come to think of it, couldn't this be accomplished with a couple of Luxeons instead of a whole bank of 5mm LEDs?
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

If you think that LED box is insanely overpriced, check out this "laser comb" - $650 retail and ebay prices for used ones regularly top $400:

http://www.lasercomb.net/

Anyone one build this baldy one for $100?

Good point Photon Wrangler. Some of those pee green luxeons might be more useful than people think.

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hpcjerry said:
If you think that LED box is insanely overpriced, check out this "laser comb" - $650 retail and ebay prices for used ones regularly top $400:

http://www.lasercomb.net/

Anyone one build this baldy one for $100?

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Now there's a hoot... if "phototherapy" really worked, couldn't you get the same effect from standing in the sunshine while combing your hair?

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LightScene said:
Good point Photon Wrangler. Some of those pee green luxeons might be more useful than people think.

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Yep.

Thinking about this some more, I wonder whether there's a side benefit that's generated by the heat emanating from a more traditional SAD fixture. I've noticed that whenever I'm in a store that has a large lighting display, and I walk over to the area where there's a lot of sample fixtures illuminated, I get a nice comforting feeling from standing next to the lights and taking in the light and the heat. Thus I notice this feeling much more from the incandescents than from the fluorescents. So I would probably notice this effect even less from a bank of LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh.gif

Photon Wrangler,

I think you are finally making some sense (well, at least to me). Like I said before "a 600 watt aircraft landing light would be good for reducing SAD. It's nice full spectrum light with a touch of warmth." Now, you make a 10-16 bank of them, and it'll cure whatever ails you.

On a different note, July 2003 Discover magazine (yes, very scientific, I know), had a article saying we need less light rather than more. They said artificial light is bad for you, specifically, "Light is a drug. By abusing it, we compromise our health". So, everyone claiming to be a "flashaholic" is more serious than I thought.

cheese

I think the appropriate timing of our exposure to light is the key. Exposure to light in the evening, after the sun goes down, inhibits the natural production of Melatonin. Melatonin is not just a sleep aid, but has powerful antioxidant and anti-aging effects.

So really, I guess the best time to use our flashlights is first thing in the morning /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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cheesehead said:
Like I said before "a 600 watt aircraft landing light would be good for reducing SAD. It's nice full spectrum light with a touch of warmth." Now, you make a 10-16 bank of them, and it'll cure whatever ails you.

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Probably. That has got to be one bright light!

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They said artificial light is bad for you, specifically, "Light is a drug. By abusing it, we compromise our health". So, everyone claiming to be a "flashaholic" is more serious than I thought.

cheese


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Light is a "drug?" Uh-oh. I think I'm seriously hooked! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

One thing I've realized is that I grew up in a home that was relatively dark for much of the time. I believe this might have something to do with why I prefer lots of light these days.

Research seems to indicate that the pineal gland is the area that responds positively to bright light. I don't understand how it can differentiate between sunlight and artificial light. I do know that an area that's poorly lit with dim, flickering fluorescents is depressing to look at, but I don't think that assessment would count as an episode of SAD.

Yup, nothing says good morning like a 600 watt aircraft landing light. I'll try that on my wife tomorrow morning and let you know how it goes.

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cheesehead said:
Yup, nothing says good morning like a 600 watt aircraft landing light. I'll try that on my wife tomorrow morning and let you know how it goes.



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Just make sure to fade up the light gradually! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I've found that sitting under a bank of 600-1000w quartz-halogen studio lamps has a nice, calming effect too, although they tend to make me yawn. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sleepy.gif

I just performed an experiment. Wearing brownish colored "blue blocker" sunglasses, I looked straight into my 5 watt cyan luxeon. I could see the die clearly, and the only color coming thru was green.

I tried the same thing with my 1 watt Reactor 3, and it was much brighter. The color coming through was gold. I couldn't see the die because the light was too bright.

Maybe a "white" luxeon in conjuntion with "blue blockers" will help SAD. I'm into avoiding intense blue light.