Northern Light Technologies
8971 Boulevard Henri-Bourassa Ouest H4S 1P7 Saint-Laurent, QC, Canada

A 2 minute read from healio.com with recommendations from Dorothy Sit, MD on how and when to use bright light therapy for bipolar disorder: https://www.healio.com//bright-light-therapy-efficacious-f

There's more to Bright Light therapy than meets the eye. Bright light can help patients with neurodegenerative diseases (ND); Alzheimers Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD). https://www.news-medical.net//Light-therapy-offers-a-safe- "In case of AD, a progressive dementia, sleep disturbance has been associated with an increased expression of biomarkers that promote disease progression. Patients with AD often experience confusion, emotional distress and hyperactivity afte...r dusk and through the night. Preliminary clinical studies on AD mouse models as well as patients with AD suggest that light stimulation helps restore memory and cognition and decreases the burden of the pathogenic amyloid- protein in the brain. Furthermore, LT has been shown to improve sleep quality and duration in patients with sleep disorders while bright environments help reduce anxiety and aggressive behaviors in patients with dementia." Check out the rest of the News Medical article to find out how light therapy can also help with Parkinsons See more

Northern Light Technologies have long supplied veterans with quality bright light therapy products. Here's a news release on how Morning Bright Light Therapy (MBLT) can improve side effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_rel/2021-04/eb-lth041521.php "Light therapy helps veterans treated for traumatic brain injury."... "According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), over 185,000 veterans have been diagnosed with at least one TBI. TBI is both a common and complex injury." "The MBLT group reported improvements to cognitive function, sleep, depression and neuropsychiatric trauma symptoms."

What do our biological clocks do? How and why do they differ between men and women?

Find out the key to falling asleep (and staying asleep longer!): https://cet.org/the-secrets-of-falling-asleep/

Northern Light Technologies is now available on Mazonequebec. Prioriser les produits du Québec en achetant local c'est Équitable, éco-responsable et bon pour l'économie!

Different wavelengths in the light spectrum can have very different effects on us. UV-C light (wavelength of around 250 nanometres) for example has found its use in disinfecting. However as this CBC article warns, this same UV light can burn skin, damage eyes and cause skin cell mutations.... Thank you to one of our customers for bringing this topic to light! Hope it can help others with similar questions on these new "UV disinfecting wands."

Sometimes keeping it simple can be the best solution. So, here are some fun things to consider on a rainy day:

There's more to bright light than meets the eye! Bright light therapy can be used for other issues besides winter blues. It can help regulate sleep and the best part is it's a non-pharmacological fix. This can be useful for diseases such as Parkinson's as explains Parkinson's News Today: "Sleep problems are one of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinsons disease. There arent any universally agreed-upon guidelines for how to treat sleep disturbances in Parkinsons patients. Such treatment is particularly complicated because some sleep medications may interfere with treatments for Parkinsons itself. As such, there is a need for non-pharmacological interventions for sleep in Parkinsons. One such intervention is bright light therapy, which, as its name suggests, involves exposure to a bright light."

C'est vrai, En ces temps de confinement, le manque de soleil peut avoir un impact non négligeable sur la santé physique et morale Également appelée photothérapie, la luminothérapie est une technique reconnue qui savère efficace pour lutter contre les troubles engendrés par le manque de luminosité naturelle. Pour en savoir plus: https://www.24hsante.com/la-luminotherapie-pour-lutter-con/

https://www.health.harvard.edu//why-your-sleep-and-wake-cy Harvard Health talks about sleep and it's impact on mood and offers tips and tricks to help.

Light therapy is making a breakthrough for Parkinson's. "PhotoPharmics has raised about $11 million and has plans to raise another $10 million to assist in the development and commercialization of this non-invasive specialized light therapy device that has been granted breakthrough designation to be used in the treatment of Parkinsons disease. " https://www.worldhealth.net//fda-grants-breakthrough-desi/

CNN underscored lists both our BOXelite and TRAVelite desk lamps as products to help beat the blues. What's the difference between ours and the competition? All the small screen products offer 10,000 lux at only 4-6 inches meaning you'd need to sit uncomfortably close to get enough light.... The BOXelite and TRAVelite are proudly still manufactured in Montreal (as opposed to the rest of the list, which are made in China). Our high quality products are backed with a 7 year warranty.

In this article you'll find some effective ways to get some added zzzs. Bright light makes the list: "Lighten up. A daily dose of sunlight (practicing proper precautions to protect against overexposure/skin cancer, of course) or artificial bright light can help keep your circadian rhythms in check. Types of light therapy include light boxes, desk lamps (with the same materials as light boxes, only made to look like a lamp), light visors, and dawn simulators."... You'll also find some great body relaxation techniques:

Great to see Universities allocating their budget toward the mental health of their students! https://dailyevergreen.com//senate-spends-remaining-budget/ The Associated Students of Washington State University (ASWSU) is spending approximately $25,000 on a campus-wide safety project and lamps which are used to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) for students across Pullman campus.... Senate approved the funding of $6,000 to purchase SAD lamps which can be checked out by students.

Bright lights are great for arts and crafts projects and photography. Staying home and being indoors can give you more time to be creative! Here are our rainbows of hope for some inspiration

Looking for where to get the right information? Check out the advice from CET on COVID-19 and your health. Did you know people fight viruses best when they are asleep? ... Explore the landscape of COVID-19 through the lens of circadian rhythms experts. Find natural, evidence-based science as well as helpful tips on their new specialty pages: https://cet.org/how-to-fight-the-coronavirus-in-your-sleep/ https://cet.org/sleep-mood-and-covid-19/

Our Flamingo floor lamp made the top 5 list for light therapy lamps for boosting your mood while stuck indoors! It's generally true that you can sit further from the larger lights but what's important is to check the 10,000 lux distance. 10,000 lux needs to reach the eyes . Be careful, most small units offer 10,000 lux at 6 inches or less which is too close to use properly. stay home, stay safe and stay healthy

Bright light therapy is still hoping for larger clinical trials, but looking at the smaller trials done to date shows its positive effects. https://www.news-medical.net//Bright-light-therapy-can-be- "Authors concluded that bright light therapy can be regarded as an effective treatment for seasonal affective disorder, but the available evidence stems from methodologically heterogeneous studies with small-to-medium sample sizes, necessitating larger high-quality clinical trials."

How light therapy could help with insomnia: https://ca.style.yahoo.com/light-therapy-sleep-insomnia-153

We hope everyone is staying safe and would like to offer a few ways to help stay social (with distance). Try to do the things on this list if you can: Video chat a family member Call an elderly friend... Wave to someone in the street Draw a rainbow to hang in your window for others to see Send someone a letter! And check out the link below for some other more tech savvy ideas: (I've personally used edx.org before and would highly recommend!)

Being indoors can wreak havoc on our circadian rhythms. ? But bright light can help. !Being indoors can wreak havoc on our circadian rhythms. ? But bright light can help. !

If you're looking for something to do, we have a lot of information on our website about bright light therapy. What is lux anyway? Check out our FAQ!

Petites fenêtres, orientation Nord, rez-de-chaussée ou tout simplement temps gris, lorsque lon se retrouve enfermé chez soi pour plusieurs jours, le manque de lumière naturelle peut vite devenir insupportable et peser lourd sur un moral déjà vacillant. Une source dénergie indispensable... Cest reconnu, la lumière est une source dénergie indispensable à notre organisme. Elle permet en effet la sécrétion de sérotonine et de cortisol, également surnommées hormones du bonheur, et rythme notre horloge biologique.

While this article is not really about bright light therapy, it is (I think) well written and creative. A general look at light therapy, where it came from and where it's going from: https://www.thecut.com/2020/03/does-light-therapy-work.html Northern Light Technologies focuses on white bright light therapy products. Our bright lights are higher intensity than normal desk lamps. When bright light shines in the eyes it is a cue to the brain that it is daytime and time to be awake and alert. This article talks more about other kinds of light treatments such as red light therapy which works on the skin.

While activities like hockey and soccer are cancelled, exercise and socializing is still important and possible without physical contact. Follow a YouTube yoga session or call a friend. Being indoors doesn't mean you're alone or need to stay in bed all day.

The American Psychiatric Association conference for 2020 has been cancelled. Any doctors or physicians looking for some of our brochures please contact us and we will gladly send them out. We hope everyone is staying safe. Don't forget if you're indoors all day to get some bright light in the morning and afternoon and remember that self care isn't just for others. Take a shower, get dressed, and take time to look and feel good. These are important little steps for your mental wellbeing.

We knew it couldn't reallllly be spring yet. The size of those flakes though! Quite beautiful.

How to survive the seasonal debt from the Suburban: http://www.thesuburban.com//article_da30a1a0-53fe-5ab0-88a

Hang in there... Longer days are on their way! "Psychological Science Professor Kelly Rohan says 87 SAD sufferers participating in her five-year study reported Monday's sunny, warmer weather elevated their moods, while the more recent gloomy, colder weather brought them back down. Rohan says day length is the strongest predictor of how a person living with SAD feels on any given day, above and beyond any weather-related variables like temperature, wind speed, cloud cover and the sun's brightness. But she says weather fluctuations can put SAD sufferers on an emotional roller coaster." "light does play an important role in SAD symptoms. Rohan says SAD sufferers will likely start to feel relief from those symptoms by the end of March or early April as we pick up more minutes of daylight." View the full WCAX video and article:

Some tips to get through the winter.. (PS we're almost there!) "this time of year, it is especially crucial to check on your neighbors and keep in touch with family and friends. Not just for their sake but for yours. Everyone needs a strong support system to be able to call when they need it." https://www.commercial-news.com//article_5061a194-5af9-11e

Some new evidence for light therapy for concussions: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas/2020//200302162250.htm

https://bib.umontreal.ca//luminotherapie-medecine-veterina

An insightful TED talk on why sleep is a necessity, how it affects our health and a few tips on how to get more of it.

RENSSELAER NEWS from February 18, 2020 With $3 Million NIH Grant Renewal, Mariana Figueiro Pushes the Frontiers of Light Therapy Whats happening with Alzheimers patients is that they are in constant biological darkness when it comes to their circadian systems, she said. They have enough light to see, but lighting in nursing homes is typically too weak to contribute to good health. There are two ways to increase the amount of light. One is to increase the intensity, and t...he other is to tune it to a more bluish color, because we are more sensitive to that. We could do a combination or either one thats what well be studying with this grant renewal. https://news.rpi.edu//3-million-nih-grant-renewal-mariana-

Knoxville TN - WVLT News spoke to Leticia Flores, Director of UT's psychological training clinic: "During the wintertime, the light is less, and so you do see people who start to have issues with depression," Flores said there have been many studies done about the topic. She said it relates to light. Lack of light, or less light, Flores said, impacts "our circadian rhythms...We tend to get a little bit more tired, and we tend to slow down when there's low light."

Video from 9NEWS with Dr. Payal Kohli separating the facts from the myths. https://www.9news.com//73-4741e229-c1f3-45b1-8d8e-00433845

Bipolaire - Bipolar Pourquoi les thérapies lumineuses pourraient-elles aider? Why might light therapies help?... https://www.health.harvard.edu//can-light-therapies-help-w

Get a great discount on the TRAVelite on Amazon available for prime shipping.

What is keeping us from sleeping and waking at a more desirable hour? Alex Dimitriu, founder of the Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine clinic talks about what keeps us up late at night and what can help us get on schedule. "The excitement of our digital world has certainly made matters worse," Dimitrui said. "It is rare, in the absence of electricity, to find people sleeping the extremes we see in our society, of, say, 3 a.m. to 10 a.m."

"Feels like January 72nd"

Northwestern Recreation associate director of fitness and wellness, Nancy Tierney, about white light therapy: "I think we can all benefit from this. I think we all know what it feels like to go several days where it might have been rainy or gloomy. And then we have a bright sunny blue sky day and everybody just feels a little better." Yup, just like a sunny sky, a bright light can help you just "feel a little better".... https://dailynorthwestern.com//speak-your-mind-northweste/