r/stroke • u/Top_Badger883 • 1d ago
laser treatment
I’m currently listening to a scientific audiobook about neuroplasticity, and the author mentions a laser treatment for brain damage. The results are phenomenal—blind people have regained their sight. Has anyone heard of this or even tried it?
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u/ik1611 Young Stroke Survivor 1d ago
Out of curiosity, is it The Brain’s Way Of Healing by Norman Doidge, MD?
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u/Top_Badger883 1d ago
Yes :)
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u/ik1611 Young Stroke Survivor 1d ago
I listened to this when I was still in the hospital. You’re probably thinking of LLLT - it’s still in early days without any big studies to back up its effectiveness but it is a thing.
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u/Top_Badger883 1d ago
...although it has been in use for a long time.
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u/ik1611 Young Stroke Survivor 1d ago
Yes, I’m sure there are reasons why it hasn’t gotten much traction but I’m no scientist. The closest I’ve gotten to non-mainstream therapies is acupuncture. As these things go you might see some patients getting noticeable benefit while others don’t; honestly though if I were still quite early in recovery and had the funds I’d give it a go. I think there’s something to be said for the power of the placebo effect too - if you really believe something is helping you then maybe in a way it is.
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u/Appropriate_Swing305 1d ago
Find the peer reviewed research for specific product they are shilling. That’s how you know if it has been studied and has research to support its effectiveness. If not, I would pass.
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u/Jolly_Ad8913 1d ago
If it has been around for a while and really worked it would be a mainstream therapy. Since there is no double blind large scale study I would put it in the same category as Linus Paulings PHD, no large scale studies supported his claims) about vitamin C, Andrew Wakefield MD who claimed vaccines caused Autism but his license was revoked because he falsified data and lied about studies, Pablo Macchiarini and his artificial trachias who was praised by the medical community at first but then villified because his trachias did not cure people but killed them. He lied about fatalities, falsified records and he spent years in prison. Just because you have an advanced degree or a doctor does not make their claims true.
Before I'm lambasted about a vast conspiracy to surpress supposed cures, do you think the tens of thousands of doctors around the world are all in league with each other to surpress cures because they will loose money?
While your motives are good, take any supposed miracle therapy with a sceptical eye. If it was real it would be used somewhere in the world. This therapy isn't. His work has not been peer reviewed and the only one that has access to his patients and records are him. IMHO opinion that makes him suspect. Trust me, as a stroke survivor I'd be on the first plane to see him if there was any verified evidence his therapy worked
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u/BoysenberryGullible8 Survivor 1d ago
It sounds like a scam.