The electromagnetic spectrum

I remember reading about the children’s version of quantum mechanics. Is light a wave or a particle? As I progressed in school, visible light and X-rays were particles. The very low frequencies and radio frequencies are kind of cool because they seem like waves that sometimes pretend to be particles.

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the electromagnetic spectrum showing wavelength, frequency, and energy

Electromagnetic radiation

All light is a combination of magnetic and electric fields in parallel. When wavelengths are really small, 400-700 nm when tend to think of this light in terms of photons, secrete packages of energy that can bump an electron up to a higher molecular orbital. Things get blurry when we get to pulsed extremely low frequency electromagnetic (PEMF) stuff. Wavelengths are in meters and energy is thought of in terms of magnetic fields that do work.

A ghost dog jumping through a Helmholz set of coils. The lines indicate the direction of teh magnetic field.

Very low frequencies

Magnetic fields are generated by electrons flowing through coiled wires.

Radio frequencies

The Assisi group has developed a device that uses radio frequencies to promote nitric oxide production for better blood flow.

a red LED light

visible light

Red light therapy has become extremely popular in the past few years. Some of this may be due to the wide availability of light emitting diodes. These things are available in more colors than just red.

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    ICES traumatic brain injury

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    BL

    This post combines the preclinical results from a US company called Micro-Pulse and a very biophysical “letter to the editor” by a Danish company called Re5. The featured image of this post is a MicroPulse ICES waveform and one from Re5 supplemental data referenced in this post. It is assumed that the rise time…

  • Desmin and mitohormesis

    Desmin and mitohormesis

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    BL

    Hormesis is a two-phased dose-response relationship whereby low-dose exposures have a beneficial effect and high-doses toxic. Pulsed ElectroMagnetic (very low) Frequency (PEMF) mitohormesis is the slight generation of reactive oxygen species that activates the transient receptor potential C1 (TRPC1) Ca2+ channel. Ca2+ signaling and mitochondrial adaptations are shared between magnetic fields and endurance training in…

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    PEMF and atherosclerosis

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    BL

    This post is an ad for a Moodle.com course I’d like to create explaining this PEMF publication. I’ve taken a few online courses and learned so much from the discussion than from the actual course material. This post previews what I know about the methods used to generate the hypothesis that PEMF ameliorates the…

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Learn more about the science behind light therapies

How do these therapies work? What can you tell your health care provider?

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