Pseudoscience that makes me SAD
There is something very uplighting about sunshine for anyone who has ever lived in Scotland or most of Northern Europe for that matter. On the flipside, Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a depressive mood that is linked to the winter months when the days shorten. Apparently, one way to treat SAD is to use phototherapy by sitting in front of a light box for a couple of hours, thereby mimicking the longer days of summer. I am not sure if it works over and beyond a placebo and I am at a loss to know how one could produce a control for light, but hell, if it works, it works. However, one recent development of phototherapy is really pushing the boundaries of credibility.
According to the website, the Valkee “substitutes the mood-elevating effects of the sun, by channeling safe bright light directly to photosensitive regions of the brain through the ear canal.” Now if I was naive, I might think, “Well I feel more miserable during the winter and phototherapy is supposed to work but I can’t sit in front of a box for two hours. I know I’ll plug it straight into my brain through my ears.”
The last time I looked, receptors sensitive to photons were in the retina. You could rip of the back of someone’s skull and shove the brightest beam into their visual cortex and they would still see absolutely nothing. And the visual cortex is nowhere near the ears. I know, lets shout at the auditory cortex to find out if we can hear better.
Oh I give up sometimes. I am not even going to bother reviewing the ‘scientific evidence’ for this one.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-human-brain-is-sensitive-to-light-breakthrough-findings-from-valkee-and-the-university-of-oulu-127506878.html -
Admittedly, VALKEE is the company behind the research, but it looks like there is some science behind it.
There was an iPhone app that claimed to ‘cure’ SAD. I covered it a little while back on the Cow. Seems to have been pulled from the iTunes Store now. Much better value than this thing @ $1.99!
Every reader should follow Valkee’s invitation to download their “medical device certificate”. This confirms that it has been manufactured to their specification and inspected (by them?), not that it actually does any good ! “The manufacturer’s quality system for the manufacture and final inspection of the aforesaid product category has been evaluated and meets the provisions of Council Directive 93A2|EEC as set out in Annex V Section 3.”
Personally, I am not enlightened at all by the diagrams of how bright light activates the brain via the ear canal. I think Female 43 years would do better to go on eating a lot of chocolate. What’s wrong with eating a lot of chocolate? It’s weird how women love to think of chocolate as peculiarly sinful. I believe it does contain serotonin and stuff, which is somewhat more credible for this condition than shining a light in your earole.
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Utilitarian ?
“Frivolous” comes to mind in some cases.