Posted on 09/28/2025 9:18:06 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Intense light therapy after surgery can increase a critical protein that protects heart tissue while lowering levels of troponin, a protein indicating heart damage that's linked to higher mortality in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, according to a study.
The results add to a growing body of evidence showing that intense light has a healing effect on the heart and blood vessels, a finding that could help reduce the number of cardiac events that happen after surgery. Myocardial Injuries in Noncardiac Surgeries (MINS) occur in about 20% of patients and significantly increase one-year mortality rates.
"The risk of myocardial injury goes up after certain surgeries and is significantly higher in patients older than 45," said Tobias de la Garza Eckle, MD, Ph.D., FASA. "In tests on humans and animal models, we found that intense light can significantly reduce troponin release. High levels of troponin following non-cardiac surgery can lead to death. Blocking it could be a very novel therapy for MINS—a disease without therapy."
Eckle's previous studies using rodent models have shown that bright light can strengthen the endothelium or lining of the blood vessels. The protection comes from a protein called PER2 which works with fellow protein HIF1A to boost levels of yet another protein, ANGPTL4, a key player in vascular health.
In this study, the researchers gave some patients having routine spine surgery intense light therapy for 30 minutes at sunrise for five days. The light increased ANGPTL4 levels and lowered troponin levels. Those who didn't receive the therapy saw troponin levels increase.
Eckle said bright light therapy increases the circadian rhythm amplitude and protects the heart before and after myocardial injury. The protection relies on the presence of the PER2 protein, but Eckle's team found that ANGPTL4 protein therapy can protect the heart even when PER2 is missing.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It lowered troponin and helped the endothelial layer of blood vessels throughout the body.
However, just 30 minutes at sunrise to human patients for five days was found to also be helpful.
A friend of mine just tod me about this and has this in her home.
The light had concerning UV wave lengths filtered out, from what I saw in the study.
Direct sunlight exposure is around 100,000 LUX, cloudy bright is just several thousand (according to MS Copilot). Not so intense, really.
So, “scientists” and “experts” re-discovered being outside in the sunlight is good for you.
Yeah, and without the heinous sunscreen.
I have had high troponin levels for 20 years as well as Blood Factor V, maybe greeting the sun every morning has been good for me as well as my dog. A thickened heart wall has left me with two gears out of four, but I am still blessed by God and lucky at this point.
How thick is thickened? For comparison, I was told mine was a bit thick last year, I think the number was .65 cm
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