Light Therapy in Parkinson's Disease

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Status: Completed

Conditions: Parkinson's Disease

Treatments: Device: Placebo light therapy; Device: active light therapy : Light therapy: DayVia lamp 10000 lux

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02072642

5063

Details and patient eligibility

About

Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder of the dopaminergic system, combines motor symptoms but also non-motor, such as depression, sleep disorders and circadian rhythms and impaired cognitive functions. Difficulties in balancing the dopaminergic treatment of these patients emphasizes the need to find effective adjuvant therapies. Light therapy (LT) represents one such innovative therapeutic approach. Although light has an obvious to visual pathways within the brain, today it is known to additionally exert non-visual effects throughout the body. Recently our team has shown that non-visual, non-circadian light plays a major role in the regulation of sleep, as well as cognitive brain function in general. The retina, the primary conduit for the transmission of light information is weakened or thinned in Parkinson's patients. The dopamine system is known to enhance the processing of light information and intraocular injection of L-dopa in animal models of Parkinson's disease, can reverse associated motor symptoms. This allows for the possibility that LT would strengthen the dopaminergic tone in the central nervous system. However, to this date its effectiveness for alleviating Parkinson's symptoms has only been suggested by two studies, both poorly controlled. Thus, through the convergence of basic and clinical data, a study examining the effect of LT directly in people Parkinson's disease symptoms, whilst controlling for the effects on sleep, circadian system, mood, and cognitive functioning, is of extreme importance. With this information our hope is to determine if these polymorphisms allow for a predictive model of response to LT treatment.

Enrollment: 44 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 45 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Idiopathic Parkison's Disease, low or moderately severe
• Hoehn&Yahr <4
• 4 to < 15 years of evolution·
• Between 45-75 years old
• Absence of dementia : MMSE > 23·
• No severe depression
• Stable medication levels during the 5 weeks before inclusion

Exclusion criteria

• Secondary or severe Parkinson's disease
• Ocular pathologies (i.e. retinopathy)
• Photosensitive medication
• Antidepressant treatment·
• Major depression syndrome
• MMSE < 23
• Circadian rhythm problems
• Sleep apnea syndrome
• Manifested or acute psychiatric comorbidities
• Pregnant women

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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44 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Active light therapy (10,000 lux)

Active Comparator group

Description:

Light therapy: DayVia lamp 10000 lux

Treatment:

Device: active light therapy : Light therapy: DayVia lamp 10000 lux

Placebo light therapy (70 lux)

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Placebo light therapy

Treatment:

Device: Placebo light therapy