Laser Therapy for Dogs & Cats, How Laser Therapy Works

Research and clinical studies have found laser therapy beneficial for a wide variety of problems including many painful, inflamed and infected conditions: 

• arthritis,
• disc disease,
• neurodegenerative disease,
• macular degeneration,
• skin infection,
• wound repair, and
• lymphoedema.

A recent study published in Australia provided an explanation of how low level laser therapy (LLLT) works: photon packets of energy released with laser therapy affect cell proteins, especially proteins in the mitochrondria, changing their shape and binding properties.  Among the protein changes are

• modification of by members of SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier proteins)
• phosphorylation
• tyrosination

Modified proteins, especially those modified by SUMO, act within the cell nucleus, in the cell cytoplasm, and on the cell membrane. The modified proteins affect ion channels and nerve transmission, telomere maintenance, gene production, and gene modification. Effects occur throughout the body, including within the central nervous system.

The full study, available on Pub Med (PMID: 24424395) is called “Protein conformational modulation by photons: A mechanism for laser treatment effects.” It was written by Liebert AD, Bicknell BT, Adams RD. and published in Med Hypotheses. 2013 Dec 26. pii: S0306-9877(13)00593-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.12.009.  Faculty of Health Sciences, Univ of Sydney, Australia.

 

 

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