Philips introduces advanced light therapy device to avoid winter blues

November 2008

Royal Philips Electronics has introduced the goLITE BLU, a new therapy light designed as a safe, simple and effective solution to help beat the winter blues.

In winter time, many people in northern countries are affected by the increased darkness and experience what is known as the winter blues. Symptoms of the winter blues may include lethargy, lowered mood, problems sleeping, carbohydrate cravings and weight gain.

Light therapy has been shown to improve mood and energy by regulating our internal body clock or circadian rhythms — the body's 24-hour cycle of activity and sleep related to light. According to Dan Adams, a research manager at Philips Home Healthcare Solutions, "The body clock is stimulated by blue light like the blue found in the summer sky. In the winter we get less of this light and so many people suffer from the winter blues. "

Light therapy is a natural way of beating the winter blues without the use of drugs or artificial stimulants. Results can be felt within a few days with as little 15 to 20 minutes of use per day.

"The goLITE BLU represents significant improvements in portable blue light therapy," says Adams. "Science has shown that to stimulate the body clock we don't need intense white light. This is because a person's body clock can respond up to two times greater to blue light than to white light and white light is 50 times more intense. Our Bluewave technology, which is incorporated into the goLITE BLU, dramatically reduces the overall intensity of light as compared to bright white therapy devices and can help minimize potential side effects such as eyestrain, glare and headaches."

The benefits of light therapy can include improved mood, energy, sleep and a sense of relief from the winter blues. Light therapy can also be used by shift workers or those who travel across time zones and have issues pertaining to jet lag.

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