MEDICINE & HEALTHAn Introduction toBy Janet Lynn Roseman Ph.D.Color and light therapy has its roots in ancient medicine. <strong>The</strong> physicianand disciple of Aristotle, Avicenna (980-1037) wrote a book called <strong>The</strong>Canon of Medicine about his use of color and light therapy as a diagnostictool with patients. Historically, color and light therapy was practiced inancient times in healing sanctuaries physically designed to accommodatethe sun’s rays, in which patients rested in private rooms draped with clothsof various hues to promote healing.<strong>The</strong> ancient Egyptians documented cures using color remedies for specificdiseases. <strong>The</strong> Nei Ching, a Chinese medical text compiled over 2000years ago, and the foundation for acupuncture, records specific medicalprotocols ascertained by color diagnosis. Knowledge about the therapeuticvalue of color and light therapy has informed contemporary sciencethrough the groundbreaking work of several scientists. Dr. ThomasDougherty at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute uses Photofrin in combinationwith red light. Photofrin (a light sensitive drug which identifiescancerous tumors) is injected and the tumors are destroyed by light therapy.Dr. Hugh McGrath Jr. has been researching the use of light therapy atthe Louisiana State University School of Medicine to diminish symptomsof lupus by using a light box with his patients. Doctors at the MedicalCollege of Wisconsin have discovered the healing power of light with thehelp of technology that was originally developed for NASA’s space shuttle.Scientists use powerful light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to increase thecellular energy in the body and for the acceleration of healing.<strong>The</strong> use of light therapy is neither ‘new age’ nor ‘new’ at all. During the1870s, the popular “Sun-Cure”— therapeutic exposure to sunlight, influencedresearch decades later for what is called Seasonal AffectiveDisorder. Yet, it was Dr. Dinshah Ghadiali, the founder ofSpectro-Chrome therapy (using colored light on the body) who broughtthe use of colored light therapy to the mainstream medical profession. Heestablished an Institute for medical training in 1920. In 1933 he wrote <strong>The</strong>Spectro-Chrome Encyclopedia, considered the definitive medical text fordiagnosis and treatment using color and light. One of his students, Dr.Kate Baldwin, practiced Spectro-Chrome therapy at the Woman’sHospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1927, she published <strong>The</strong><strong>The</strong>rapeutic Value of Light and Color in the Atlantic Medical Journal, citingcompelling evidence for the use of color and light therapy. “I have givenclose attention to the action of colors in restoring the body’s functions andafter 37 years of hospital and private practice in medicine and surgery, Ican produce quicker and more accurate results with light than with any orall other methods combined, and with less strain on the patient.”I was drawn to color and light therapy after my mother was diagnosedwith cancer of unknown primary origin in 1998. In my search for a noninvasivetherapy to offer her relief from her suffering, I studied manyforms of healing including Reiki (shamanic healing) and studied with themedical intuitive, Nikki Todd.I became certified as a Reiki Master and studied colorpuncture.Colorpuncture is a medical protocol created by German scientist, Dr.Peter Mandel, based on acupuncture using color and light instead of needleinsertion. My mother received numerous color and light therapytreatments during her courageous battle with cancer and I take somecomfort in knowing that these treatments helped her greatly when shewas most in need.Work in color and light therapy (called spectra-immunology ) is basedon colorpuncture, acupuncture, and energy healing. <strong>The</strong> choice of colorsof various hues and frequencies of light chosen vary. Each body is uniqueand there is no one-size-fits-all type of treatment. Similar to pharmaceuticals,everyone responds differently to a prescription (and light therapy)and the age of the patient, physical and emotional well being all need tobe taken into consideration along with the symptoms presented whendetermining the correct treatment.Spectra—immunology is painless and relaxing, and research has indicatedthat it does not interfere with any co-existing medical protocol andhas shown no side effects. At the Wellness Center in Boca Raton, a cancersupport center, I saw patients who were in active chemotherapy andradiation treatments and the light treatments were quite effective inreducing their pain and other problems.Initial research indicates that color and light has proven effective in thereduction of common problems that many cancer patients experienceincluding side effects from radiation and chemotherapy, nausea, vomiting,anemia, pain (in general and port pain in particular), decreasedvision, lack of mobility and flexibility of joints, scarring from surgery, andradiation burns, and wound healing. It has also been shown to help healpatients who suffer from depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and other psychologicalills as well as people who have chronic pain problems, arthriticailments, and physical challenges.Most people fall asleep during a treatment session or doze off calmly.<strong>The</strong>re is no one “correct” response to the treatment. Patients havereported that they actually sleep better, have fewer incidence of gastricdistress, bowel irregularities, pain reduction, greater mobility,and a reduction of port pain (until their ports were flushed again).Usually people have an immediate response and for others, it maytake a few days.It is my hope that through further research, this non-invasive therapyfor people with cancer will reduce and hopefully eliminate the sideeffects of cancer treatments all together. I believe that a new paradigmof healthcare is needed; one that honors the patients needs first. Ienvision future offices for healthcare where holistic practitioners andtraditional medicine practitioners can work side by side to addressthe complete health care needs of their patients, physically, spirituallyand emotionally.Dr. Janet Lynn Roseman is a Clinical Instructor of Family Medicine atBrown University Medical School. She is a certified Reiki Master andtrained medical intuitive. She practices spectra-immunology TM atSomething Yoga Studio and Healing Spa in Boca. YMG92 FEBRUARY <strong>2008</strong>
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