Let loose the light!
By: Susan Bustos

November 28, 2006,
The Varisty Newspaper,
University of Toronto

"There are four basic ingredients to life on earth: air, food, water, and light," said Julianne Bien, a colour therapist in Toronto. It seems fitting that the woman whose last name is French for "well" is in the business of promoting well-being. Bien is the founder of Spectrahue Light and Sound and has been called a pioneer of colour light therapy.

Bien is the founder of Spectrahue Light and Sound and has been called a pioneer of colour light therapy. Her company markets the Lumalight system, used for light therapy, or "colourpuncture." Lumalight consists of a penlight with seven interchangeable coloured lenses and geometric screens, like the star tetrahedron, sphere, cube, and pyramid. The geometric screens are for light frequency amplification and, according to Spectrahue, are "designed to create aesthetic symmetry by energetically balancing the body through the use of colour light and geometry."

The therapy involves shining light on to traditional acupuncture points, or chakras, to stimulate energy flow.

Bien cites the work of the German biophysicist Fritz-Albert Popp, whose studies have shown that any biological system, even plants, emit light, or biophotons, in the visible range. She explains that cells in our body communicate through visible colours and that applying this language of colour to our cells activates the body's self-healing process.

Mikki Fox, a Toronto colour therapist who uses the Lumalight system in her practice, likened the human body to an orchestra.

"Every one of the instruments has its resonance, and together they create what we call harmony. Get one of them out of tune, guess what happens to the symphony?" She said colour therapy helps bring the body back into balance from disharmony caused by stress and disease.

Bien's light therapy claims to offer pain relief and maintain physical, emotional and spiritual wellness and even beauty regimes. Colour therapy proponents use Lumalight every day to maintain wellness and prevent disease.

Bien hopes to use light therapy to treat a wider range of diseases. She is in the process of creating three new systems: one for treating diabetes, one for urinary incontinence, and one for SAD and jet-lag.

Another light treatment, low-intensity laser therapy, is used for a variety of musculoskeletal medical conditions, such as sports injuries, repetitive motion syndrome and arthritis.

Dr. Fred Kahn founded Meditech International 17 years ago, and developed the LILT Bioflex system, which has been used by Toronto baseball, basketball and hockey leagues for their injured players.

In LILT, laser light shone on the skin interacts with subcellular molecules to promote self-healing by the body. Unlike Lumalight, LILT has been endorsed by high-profile clients like the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving it a legitimacy Bien is still striving for. But the two treatments are strikingly similar.

LILT uses flexible, silicone pads to deliver red or infrared laser light to the skin. Lumalight uses penlights with coloured filters that users shine on the treatment area. In contrast to Lumalight, LILT lets users control various parameters of the light, such as frequency, intensity, polarization, and so on. Both Lumalight and LILT claim to cure health problems, not just provide topical treatment for their symptoms.

Though colourpuncture and LILT are not widely accepted by doctors and researchers, other forms of light therapy are supported by Western medical institutions. White-light boxes that simulate sunlight during short winter days are a common treatment for seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression that affects up to three per cent of Canadians during the fall and winter. In a Canada-wide study published this year in the American Journal of Psychiatry by two U of T researchers and their colleagues found the boxes are at least as effective as the antidepressant medication fluoxetine in treating SAD.

As with most therapies, light therapy's acceptance into mainstream medicine depends on the support of health insurance providers. Though some medical plans cover the purchase of light boxes with a doctor's prescription, U of T's student health plan does not. Students may be covered for LILT therapy, however, as long as a licensed physiotherapist or chiropractor provides the treatment. Students also get limited coverage for visits to registered naturopathic and homeopathic practitioners, who may provide colour light therapy as part of their practice, so things are looking brighter.