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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2005 >> sunlight therapy
        
(Message started by: PaulL on Jan 13^th, 2005, 2:17pm)

Title: sunlight therapy
Post by PaulL on Jan 13^th, 2005, 2:17pm

Has anyone experimented with sunlight as a therapy? It's well known that to counteract jet lag it's good to go out into bright sunlight at noon for about an hour a day. That quickly resets your body clock. Since CHs seem to be due to a circadian rhythm malfunction something along these lines might be helpful.

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by nani on Jan 13^th, 2005, 2:33pm

Sunlight is a trigger for me I'm afraid...I live in the sunbelt and have to use really dark sunglasses and hats to keep it out of my eye. :(
Interesting thought though......hmmmm.

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by JJA on Jan 13^th, 2005, 2:47pm

A few years ago I tried to manipulate how much sun I got (more in the winter, less in the summer). I also kept a regular light/dark cycle (I used fluorescent lights, but not full spectrum).. I did that for about a year with no noticable improvement.

Jesse

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by floridian on Jan 13^th, 2005, 2:56pm

I've got a strong seasonal episodic pattern - always in summer. I think I need more darkness (and less heat) in the summer. As Ueli would say, I have a classic yin deficiency. ;)

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by JJA on Jan 13^th, 2005, 4:08pm

Hey floridian,

That reminds me of why I tried the light therapy. I went to Daytona Beach while in cycle. When I came back home my cycle ended within a few days, weeks ahead of schedule. I thought it was all the sunlight I got on the beach, but maybe it was getting out of the Florida sun.

Jesse

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by unsolved1 on Jan 13^th, 2005, 5:02pm

Sunlight (or any glaring light) can be a trigger for me.

I like it dark 8) thank you

Unsolved

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by IndianaJohn on Jan 13^th, 2005, 6:17pm

on 01/13/05 at 17:02:56, unsolved1 wrote:

Sunlight (or any glaring light) can be a trigger for me.

I like it dark 8) thank you

Unsolved

Same here

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by floridian on Jan 13^th, 2005, 6:31pm

Sunlight:

a) increases vitamin D
b) lowers some parts of the immune system
c) depresses melatonin (based on hours, not intensity)
d) other _________.

A is an interesting possibility. A quick search reveals anecdotal evidence that vitamin D and calcium might be able to break a migraine cycle:

Quote:

Headache. 1994 Nov-Dec;34(10):590-2.

Alleviation of migraines with therapeutic vitamin D and calcium.

Thys-Jacobs S. Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY 10029.

Two postmenopausal migraineurs who developed frequent and excruciating migraine headaches (one following estrogen replacement therapy and the other following a stroke) were treated with combination vitamin D and calcium. Therapeutic replacement with vitamin D and calcium resulted in a dramatic reduction in the frequency and duration of their migraine headaches.

Headache. 1994 Oct;34(9):544-6.

Vitamin D and calcium in menstrual migraine.

Thys-Jacobs S.

Two premenopausal women with a history of menstrually-related migraines and premenstrual syndrome were treated with a combination of vitamin D and elemental calcium for late luteal phase symptoms. Both cited a major reduction in their headache attacks as well as premenstrual symptomatology within 2 months of therapy. These observations suggest that vitamin D and calcium therapy should be considered in the treatment of migraine headaches.

Vitamin D is also a big player in the calcium/calcitonin/CGRP mechanisms. Maybe after a few days or weeks at the beach, the vitamin D from sun downregulated your ability to release CGRP? There is evidence that calcipotriol (the most active form of Vitamin D) reduces calcitonin - maybe that vitamin/hormone can also reduce CGRP release, or the response of cells to CGRP? Hmm... wish I knew.

Note: I have seen some warnings for verapamil - vitamin D and calcium may theoretically lower its effectiveness by changing the calcium/calcium channel situation. Worth considering if you are taking Verapamil. On the other hand, just yesterday I was reading about vitamin D in newsweek - one prominent researcher whos been working on D for 30 years believes that the FDA's RDA should be ten times higher!

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by Ueli on Jan 13^th, 2005, 8:57pm

I don't know were to place yin and yang on the calendar, floridian please enlighten me ;).

However, it turns out more and more, the frequency and intensity of my attacks are much lighter during ascending sun than during descending.

I started 2004 with one and a half tanks full of oxygen, having stockpiled for fear of shortage over the holidays. But that supply lasted until end of June. During the 2nd half of 2004 my oxygen consumption was very much lager, a tank lasted only for 6 - 10 days. Since the recent solstice I'm doing much better again and I have used less than half a tank of oxygen.

-----

I know of a guy who sits every day for an hour besides a high intensity, full spectrum light. He swears that his chronic CH and CPH have eased up a lot and are much better treatable. But then, who knows.... During the same time he has taken shrooms and stopped smoking.

PFNADs, Ueli [smiley=smokin.gif]

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by floridian on Jan 14^th, 2005, 10:23am

on 01/13/05 at 20:57:24, Ueli wrote:

I don't know were to place yin and yang on the calendar, floridian please enlighten me ;).

PFNADs, Ueli [smiley=smokin.gif]

Well, I'm not an expert on Asian medical philosophy, but my understanding is that the pictograph for yin is the dark side of a mountain. Yin is associated with night, Yang with day; Yin with winter, Yang with summer. So in broadest terms, people who get hit only in summer might be said to have a surplus of yang or a yin deficiency.

Sometimes the metaphor corresponds directly to western biology - for example, inflammation, heat and fire are seen as yang, while the yin herbs are cooling or contain compounds that have anti-inflammatory action, or are high in anti-oxidants, etc. http://tinyurl.com/5dw6h

The metaphors (or synthetic variables) become increasingly complicated as they describe more complex phenomena. Not sure how to account for someone like me that gets hit primarily at night (a yin time) during summer (a yang season), but late in summer when the daylength is decreasing (yin). There are a variety of patterns for migraine with unusual names - heat in the blood, liver wind-fire, etc. Sounds totally weird to the western mind, and likely to perplex someone if they think it is literally an issue of having a liver problem. But the herbs are given properties that correspond to treating these 'patterns' or syndromes, and thus it does embody knowledge, even if the language or logic patterns make little sense from the outside.

But what about sunshine and vitamin D?

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by floridian on Jan 14^th, 2005, 1:44pm

Ok, more on vitamin D and circadian rhythms. The part of the hypothalamus that seems especially important for clock functions (the SCN) has a core with cells that contain a protein called calbindin. (first abstract). I came across 1233 articles that suggest that vitamin D can affect calbindin metabolism - generally increasing its expression in the kidneys, brain, etc. The second article suggests that a low phosphate/high calcium + D diet can upregulate calbindin, atleast in rats. I remember somebody here insisting that phosphate was the 'cause' of clusters. Maybe too simple, but could be partially true nonetheless. JMorgan's detox diet is also low phosphate. Interesting.

Quote:

Eur J Neurosci. 2004 Apr;19(7):1741-8.

Temporal and spatial expression patterns of canonical clock genes and clock-controlled genes in the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

Hamada T, Antle MC, Silver R. Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA.

In mammals, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus control endogenous circadian rhythms and entrainment to the environment. A core SCN region of calbindin (CalB)-containing cells is retinorecipient and the cells therein lack rhythmic expression of clock genes and electrical activity. The core is surrounded by a 'shell' of rhythmic oscillator cells. In the present experiments, we studied the spatial arrangement of oscillator cells by examining the spatial and temporal patterns of expression of the canonical clock genes Per1, Per2 and vasopressin mRNA, a clock-controlled gene. Surprisingly, in the SCN shell, the dorsomedial cells were the first to rhythmically express both Per1 and VP mRNA, with gene expression then spreading very slowly through much of the nucleus for the next 12 h then receding to baseline levels. Following a light pulse, Per expression increased after 1 h in the core SCN and after 1.5 h in the shell. Although expression in the shell occurred earlier in light-pulsed animals than in those housed in constant darkness, it still followed the same spatial and temporal expression pattern as was observed in constant darkness. The results suggest that not only is the SCN organized into light-responsive and rhythmic regions but also that the rhythmic region of the SCN itself has an ordered arrangement of SCN oscillator cells.

Quote:

Mol Endocrinol. 1988 Oct;2(10):928-35.

Modulation of rat calbindin-D28 gene expression by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and dietary alteration.

Huang YC, Christakos S.

Department of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark.

We have used a specific cDNA to the mammalian 28,000 Mr vitamin D-dependent calcium binding protein (calbindin-D28k) to study the regulation of the expression of this mRNA in rat kidney and brain. The effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) and dietary alteration on genomic expression were characterized by both Northern and slot blot analysis. Administration of 1,25-(OH)2D3 for 7 days (25 ng/day) to vitamin D-deficient rats resulted in a marked increase in renal calbindin-DmRNA, renal calbindin, and serum calcium. When vitamin D-deficient rats were supplemented for 10 days with calcium (3% calcium gluconate in the water, 2% calcium in the diet) serum calcium levels were similar to the levels observed in the 1,25-(OH)2D3-treated rats. However, in the calcium-supplemented rats the levels of renal calbindin and renal calbindin mRNA were similar to the levels observed in the vitamin D-deficient rats, suggesting that calcium alone without vitamin D does not regulate renal calbindin gene expression in vivo. In dietary alteration studies in vitamin D-replete rats, renal calbindin protein and mRNA increased 2.5-fold in rats fed diets low in phosphate providing evidence that in the rat the nutritional induction of calbindin is accompanied by a corresponding alteration in the concentration of its specific mRNA. Under low dietary calcium conditions, the levels of renal calbindin protein and mRNA were similar to the levels observed in control rats, although 1,25-(OH)2D3 serum levels were markedly elevated, suggesting that factors in addition to 1,25-(OH)2D3 can modulate renal calbindin gene expression.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by laguna on Mar 4^th, 2005, 8:39pm

Vitamin D helps absorption of magnesium, which has rid me of my clusters.

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by vig on Mar 4^th, 2005, 9:12pm

on 03/04/05 at 20:39:05, laguna wrote:

Vitamin D helps absorption of magnesium, which has rid me of my clusters.

::)

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by Sophie on Mar 4^th, 2005, 11:53pm

I can't back this up, but I used to have a friend that liked to take walks early as the sun came up----he said, it increased lithium in his body. Sophie :)

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by Sophie on Mar 4^th, 2005, 11:57pm

As far as yin and yang go-----I was always under the impression you could not tell where one began and the other ended. Sophie :)

Title: Re: sunlight therapy
Post by sandie99 on Mar 5^th, 2005, 6:43am

Sunlight can trigger my HAs, too... :(