Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30778331›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neurology2018

Polychromatic Light Exposure as a Therapeutic in the Treatment and Management of Parkinson's Disease: A Controlled Exploratory Trial.

Gregory L Willis, Jamilee Boda, Christopher B Freelance

Abstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Efficacy and Safety of Light Therapy as a Home Treatment for Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson Disease: A Meta-Analysis.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. ENLITE PD: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Light Therapy for Impaired Sleep in Parkinson's Disease.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025
    Trial
  5. Review
  6. Photokinetics of Photothermal Reactions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Perceptions of aquatic physiotherapy and health-related quality of life among people with Parkinson's disease.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2021
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. "Photobiomics": Can Light, Including Photobiomodulation, Alter the Microbiome?Photobiomodulation, photomedicine, and laser surgery · 2019
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Gregory L WillisThe Bronowski Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, The Bronowski Clinic, Coliban Medical Centre, Kyneton, VIC, Australia.
Jamilee BodaThe Bronowski Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, The Bronowski Clinic, Coliban Medical Centre, Kyneton, VIC, Australia.
Christopher B FreelanceThe Bronowski Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, The Bronowski Clinic, Coliban Medical Centre, Kyneton, VIC, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a disorder characterized by loss of dopamine (DA) in the nigro-striatal dopamine (NSD) system with the primary symptoms of bradykinaesia, rigidity, tremor, and altered gate. Secondary symptoms including depression, insomnia, involuntary movement, and psychiatric side effects are also commonly observed. While the treatment focus for the past 50 years has been aimed at replacing deficient DA, to relieve the primary symptoms, more recent studies have suggested that the circadian system plays a critical role in the etiology and treatment of this disorder. Several case studies and open label trials have implemented bright light therapy (BT) in an attempt to repair sleep, depression and even the primary motor symptoms of this disorder, however controlled studies are yet to be fully implemented. In this controlled trial, patients that had been maintained on BT daily for 4 months to 5 years previously were assigned to one of three groups: continued polychromatic light, continued with red light or discontinued polychromatic light for a 2 week period. The Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDSUPDRS), The Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), The Beck Depression Inventory II, The Beck Anxiety Inventory, The Epworth Sleep Scale (ESS) and a global rating scale were used to assess patients prior to and at 1 and 2 weeks after commencing the trial. Patients continuing polychromatic BT showed significant improvement on the MDSUPDRS Rating Scale (12 points;

Indexed as

anxietycircadiandepressionlight therapyParkinson's diseasesleep

Identifiers

PMID30778331
PMCPMC6156259

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.