Chromotherapy

A new light on vision - Dr.Jacob Liberman, OD, PHD
The idea of light as an integral part of all life and creation was evident since the beginning of time. From the very first sunrise to the sunsets of the present, we continue to be awed by the beauty, power, life creating and life sustaining properties and emanations of light.

The rainbow, truly a miracle of nature. confirms not only the importance of color, but specifically those portions of the spectrum for which the human organism is attuned.

Throughout most of history, the role of light in human functioning has been limited to and primarily thought of in terms of its role in initiating the process of sight. Early researchers, such as Babbitt, Pleasanton, Pancoast, and Dinshah, clinically found that color, applied to the skin, could have a profound, yet non-intrusive rebalancing and curative effect on bodily ailments. At the turn of this century, science first began to realize that light entering the eyes not only served vision, but also traveled to other very important brain regions. It was in that same period of time that Dr. Harry Riley Spitler theorized in great detail about the role of the eyes in phototransduction, as well as the role of light and color in total organismic function and, development.

After seventeen years of ongoing research and clinical application, Spitler discovered that different frequencies of light entering the eyes could augment the brain’s major control centers that regulated all bodily functions. Believing that physiological and emotional ailments were primarily caused by imbalances in the nervous and endocrine systems, Spitler utilized different frequencies of light by way of the eyes to restore balance within these regulatory centers, thereby directly affecting the source of the visual dysfunctions he found.

Based on his discoveries, Spitler conceived the principles for a new, exclusively optometric, and functionally oriented clinical science that he called Syntonics.

Syntonics (optometric phototherapy), utilized clinically for more than 60 years within the field of optometry, is that branch of ocular science dealing with the application of selected visible light frequencies through the eyes. This ocular application of light has been utilized with great success in the treatment of various visual dysfunctions associated with strabismus (crossed eyes). amblyopia (lazy eye), visual field constrictions, accommodative/convergence problezits (focusing and eye teaming skills), head trauma, visually related learning problems, and even some diseases of the eyes.

To fully understand this new emerging field of research and clinical application, the effects of ocularly perceived light on all aspects of human functioning need to be expanded and elaborated.

The Spectral Receptivity System (SRS) is a light projection tool used in Syntonics to desensitize us to the habitual triggers that catalyze emotional and physical stress that eventually lead to disease.

Each eye contains approximately 137 million photoreceptors. These photoreceptors transform light into electrical impulses that are then sent to the brain at nearly 234 miles per hour. These impulses travel along several different routes involving the entire brain. Some travel by way of the optic nerve to the visual cortex, where they are relayed to the posterior parietal cortex, inferior temporal cortex, and angular gyrus. These areas, respectively, tell us where things are, what things are, and integrate all sensory inputs relating to language, thus laying the initial foundation for the process of vision.

Some impulses travel by way of the retino-tectal pathway to the superior colliculus in the mid-brain. This area subserves peripheral retinal detection, thus setting up conditions for fixation and foveation. These impulses also directly effect balance and coordination as they are sent from the superior colliculus to the 8th nerve. The superior colliculus is very important, as it neurologically represents everything other than the fovea, thus acting as the brain’s gyroscope.

Another very important pathway, the accessory optic tract, takes light information to the accessory optic system in the brain stein. Impulses going to this area directly effect general arousal and activation of the CNS, as well as emotions. The accessory optic tract also sends its light activated information by way of the retinohypothalamic tract to the site of the body’s biological clock within the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus may be the single most important portion of the brain, as it coordinates and regulates most of our life-sustaining functions and also initiates and directs our reactions and adaptations to stress. It is the brain’s major integrating center for all information from the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, and emotional system, etc.. Along with the fact that the hypothalamus uses light activated information in its regulation of our vital functions, it also relays this information to the pineal organ. The pineal, truly a master organ and considered the body’s “regulator of regulators”, utilizes light information, sent by way of the eyes, to orchestrate and synchronize the body’s internal functions with natures “heart beat.”

Just as the field of clinical nutrition has evolved from the general use of multiple vitamins to the prescribing of specific nutrients, amino acids, and enzymes that the body is in need of, the field of optometric phototherapy has utilized this same principle since its onset. While medical science has shown that light has a profound stimulatory and regulatory effect on all of the body’s vital functions, optometric phototherapy has found that specific portions of the visible spectrum act as the rebalancers of these vital functions. Light may well be the major nutrient which feeds the evolution of all life.

Based on these scientific findings, the field of ocular as well as general phototherapy has greatly expanded, and is presently being used in a variety of clinical applications ranging from the treatment of vision problems and learning disabilities by optometrists, to the treatment of cancer, depression, and even AIDS, by medical practitioners.

The idea of light as an integral part of all life and creation was evident since the beginning of time. From the very first sunrise to the sunsets of the present, we continue to be awed by the beauty, power, life creating and life sustaining properties and emanations of light.

The Problem: A lack of sunlight can lead to ill health with a variety of mental, emotional, and physical symptoms.

The Causes of Light Starvation: Photophilia and Malillumination

Working and living indoors: Poorly illuminated environments with inappropriate artificial lighting could have serious health implications. For example, most artificial indoor lighting lacks ultraviolet light (UV), which at the proper intensity is essential to the production of vitamin D and the metabolism of calcium.

Unhealthy artificial light: Most indoor lighting lacks the requisite full-range color distribution and the proper intensity to sustain health and certain functions, such as vitamin D and hormone production. Light’s effect on human mind body health has, until recently, been ignored in architecture, design, and engineering. Both fluorescent and incandescent lights have lots of Red, but are lacking in Green, Blue and Violet. Furthermore, indoor lighting is generally not bright enough, amounting to only 1/20th the intensity of outdoor light in the shade on a sunny day. The amount of light that we receive from 16 hours indoors is dramatically less than the amount we receive from a single hour outdoors.

Negative lifestyle habits: Even in sunny California and Florida, the average individual receives little sunlight in a 24-hour period. The additional interferences we have, such as tinted sunglasses and contact lenses, tinted car windshields, and tinted windows, don’t allow in the health-giving properties of the entire spectrum of light.

Seasons/low light conditions: In winter in the northern hemisphere, the onset of winter depression and seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) occurs in late fall and peaks in February. (These symptoms usually wane in early spring, as the days get longer.)

The Symptoms of Light Starvation:

Symptoms of lack of exposure to sunlight: Scandinavian winters have been associated with a higher incidence of irritability, fatigue, illness, lowered immune functioning, insomnia, hypersomnia, depression, alcoholism and suicide.

Vitamin D deficiency: Sunlight is crucial to vitamin D production.

Calcium deficiency: Calcium levels are lowest in the low light conditions of winter. Calcium is necessary for the growth of bones and teeth. A lack of calcium is related to such conditions as osteoporosis and osteomalacia, the softening of the bones.

Neurotransmitter and Neurohormonal deficiencies: Create a disturbance of bodily rhythms, leading to symptoms such as those seen in seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) or its sub clinical form, winter depression, phase shift disorders, and jet lag (with symptoms such as disturbances in sleep, appetite, or mood.)