Philips goLITE BLU Energy Light

HA! I was about to ask the same question. Well almost. I didn’t remember about the Blue Raja Superhero. :frowning:

Woot can now form its own Blue Man Group.

It’s worth noting that blue light therapy devices are thought to increase your risk of macular degeneration. Also, for us folks with bipolar disorder, too much light can make us manic. Personally speaking, I used this for 2 months for bipolar II depression during the winter. I didn’t notice any effects at all so I returned it.

Sources: http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/BlueLight.htm

http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/LightTherapy.htm

No, you’re not. I think they’re A LOT gimmicky. I put them in the same realm as those ultrasonic pest repellers. hahaha. In other words, BS

When I see something like this, where a company like Philips, who enjoys an apparently solid consumer reputation, will throw caution to the wind and make seemingly silly and outlandish rumblings about the energy in a blue light, I ask what has the world come to?

If there were any truth in this blue light revelation, then why does is cost $75? After all, it’s only a blue light. Of course, there may be just a bit of truth in this blue light energy but the real truth is that it’s a scheme which is carefully designed to separate you from your money. Sorry Philips but you sound like a modern day snake oil salesman.

For those who think this is gimmicky…has never suffered from Seasonal Disorder. I am jealous that you do not have this affliction. You, on the other hand, should be grateful you do not need a light such as this to get through the long winter without considering suicide.

I’m just glad people made it long enough for this light to be developed. to think of the lives this light has saved.

It’s a different model with the alarm and chime. This one does have a timer though.

This does provide comfort for those who suffer from SAD, but not for all forms of depression-hence some of the negative reviews at amazon. Also if you have had cataract surgery this is a no-no. From the manual.

“The goLITE BLU may not be suitable for use on individuals who use photosensitizing medications, who have had cataract surgery, who have pre-existing eye conditions, or who have bipolar disorder.”

The fact is that, while the rainfall totals aren’t the highest, Seattle is undeniably one of the least sunny places in the country. It averages just 58 sunny days a year, with 226 cloudy and 81 partly-cloudy. No matter what the sky conditions, Seattle averages 155 rainy days every year.

There’s no reason to be pissed that Seattle has a reputation for rain when 3 days a week, on average, are rainy, and 4-5 days a week are cloudy.

(The actual wettest city’s in the US are all on the gulf coast. Mobile, AL takes the cake for most rainfall, but they also average 218 days of sunshine a year – almost 4 times that of Seattle.)

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It’s worth noting that blue light therapy devices are thought to increase your risk of macular degeneration. Also, for us folks with bipolar disorder, too much light can make us manic. Personally speaking, I used this for 2 months for bipolar II depression during the winter. I didn’t notice any effects at all so I returned it.

Where do you shop that lets you return it after 2 months?

We have started using similar light units in our medical hospital. Patients, even in acute care, enjoy tremendous improvement in mood and outlook with about half an hour to an hour’s use each early morning
Several have asked to take the lights home with them !

This is more of an infomercial than a review. The woman is basically mindlessly rambling off Phillips’ claims without critically examining any of it. She’s the type that we researchers say are most susceptible to the Placebo Effect. The more technical the claims, the more effective the product.

Phillips is a leader in light and especially LED technology. It also has a top notch medical division. But when you combine the two, you come up with some very questionable products that borders on quackery. I’ve tested a few of their light therapy products and informally reviewed some of their claims, and very little of it goes beyond the Placebo Effect. They tend to exaggerate and extrapolate what little positive effects there are into a a life changing event. For example, I have the Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light With Colored Sunrise Simulation. It claims to gently wake users up, leaving them more energized and in a better mood. This is all based on self-reporting. There are no tests of attention, strength or endurance, for example, to quantitatively prove a boost in energy. Nor are there blood tests examining hormonal levels, as far as I know. As for mood, yes, a gentle wakeup feels better than a blaring siren. But they haven’t proved that this gentle wake up is due to the light and can’t be achieved through escalating sound alone. To be fair, I will say that some studies do show that light on the skin initiate hormonal processes that play a part in waking and sleep. The worst sin is Phillips’ claim that the device “leaves users with an improved mood and energy level throughout the day.” A good night’s sleep does that as well as events throughout the day. How you wake up does not have such a lasting effect.

Again, much of this can easily be attributed to the Placebo Effect. It’s well-known that hi-tech products and “natural” therapy products bias opinions toward the positive. This is especially true for Amazon, etc reviews, where people need to psychologically justify their overpriced expenditures. The above clock, for example, is $130 when it’s worth only about $35 (it’s a horrible alarm clock). And this goLItE BLU thingie is probably worth about $20-$30.

That said, if something makes you feel better – even if it’s due to The Placebo Effect – and has no known side effects, and you can afford it, go for it. Just don’t believe the claims until there are good studies not based mostly on self-reporting.

For those who are wondering, I didn’t waste money on the Sunrise clock. It was a secondhand gift from a patient who wanted me to test it out.

I don’t have one of these but may get one just so that I can research the claims. In fact, I may try to weasel the department into buying it as research equipment… heh. In case my colleagues are reading, I’m just kidding.

Here are some initial thoughts. I’m very skeptical. Bright lights energize you, period. Get yourself a nice full spectrum lamp, which has multiple uses, unlike this device. This use of blue LEDs is very questionable, and possibly even harmful. The fact is, humans, like all animals, have daily as well as seasonal rhythms. Artificial lighting has interrupted these natural cycles, and this device contributes to that disruption. For most animals, including us, there are no bright blue skies at 9pm so we should dispense with the notion that this is “natural” therapy.

Most questionable of all is the use of blue LEDs. Blue light has been known to cause retinal damage in animals. While a healthy human eye has defenses against excessive blue light, this may not be true of older or damaged eyes. LEDs may be especially dangerous because of the Lambertian distribution of light. Unlike the diffuse lighting of normal lightbulbs, LEDs focus their beams. In fact, LED flashlight manufacturers warm you not to stare directly at the light. I don’t know what kind of diffusers this device uses but the fact that it’s blue AND LED-based should give users pause.

If you want to read more about the dangers of blue light, Google “blue light hazard.”

http://www.mdsupport.org/library/hazard.html#footnote71

A BETTER CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE

It’s very gimmicky and completely unnecessary. Even if the claims are true, you don’t need to waste money on this. Simply use your computer monitor. Most graphics cards can simulate whatever color frequency this claims to use. Once you’ve found the color, make it your wallpaper. You can even open a small window in the corner just for this patch of blue.

In fact, if you want to take Phillips theory to its limit, simply take a photo of the REAL sky and use it as your wallpaper. You can even use photos with clouds to mimic truly being outside. Why bother with LED approximations when you can display the real thing? FOR FREE.

People on the go can simply do the same on their tablets and smartphones. In fact, I’ve seen apps for light therapy. Why limit yourself to the blue light of this device when you can have the full spectrum on a tablet? Red, for example, supposedly increases appetite for those times you want to increase appetite! I believe blue/green suppresses the appetite because molds which causes spoilage are of those colors. Pink allegedly calms, which is why some prisons paint their walls pink. Etc, etc.

Seriously, a cheap $49 Android tablet can create any color you want, anddisplay photos of the REAL sky. Furthermore, you can get apps of nature sounds to play in the background. Or blasts some high energy dance groove to really get you going. Finally, the tablet’s clock and alarms can be much more powerful than the cheap clock in this device.

***AND YOU CAN EVEN PLAY AROUND WITH BINAURAL BEATS TO SYNCHRONIZE YOUR BRAINWAVES:slight_smile: ***

I’m holding out for the Dark Side red force light.

Doubt it since light therapy has nothing to do with synchronizing brain waves. In fact, I wonder if the strobing of most LEDS might be disruptive.

If you want to fool around with synchronizing your brain waves, try doing Binaural Beats on a tablet. You can play around with color and light therapy too. See my previous post. Please note that I an neither endrsing Binaural Beats nor color therapy, which are a bit too unproven for me.

These aren’t BS, nor are they “full spectrum” lights. It seems like no one here really knows what these are or what they do. Here’s an explanation.

There is a type of cell in the eye called a photosensitive retinal ganglion cell. These cells do not contribute to visual stimulus in a typical fashion, and can function without any help from rods and cones. They contain a pigment called melanopsin and are most stimulated by high-energy light (blue and violet). These cells send output via the optic nerve to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, which helps regulate circadian rhythms - AKA the internal clock or sleep/wake cycle.

GoLite uses a wavelength of about 470 nm for the light, which stimulates the retinal ganglion cells more optimally than a full spectrum light. This is why it doesn’t need to have the lux rating that full spectrum lights need to be effective.

The potential problem with these “goLites” is the fact that they must use this high-energy blue light in order to do their job. It stimulates the photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, but also has a higher potential for eye damage than equivalent brightness, lower-energy wavelengths of light. People with personal or family histories of eye degeneration should probably use GoLites (and full spectrum lights!) with caution. At any rate, these are safer than earlier model GoLites because the light is more diffuse.

Edit: Someone asked about how these diffuse light. The plastic “lens” over the LEDs helps with this, and there are also reflectors around the LEDs themselves (in this model, not the ancient one I have from Apollo).

NEVER look directly at these lights. It’s pointless. The cells that you want to stimulate aren’t in the most visually active part of the retina (the fovea) so just look at it in your peripheral vision only. This will also reduce the possibility of negative side effects from using this device.

No, I don’t work for Phillips, I just own a GoLite and have experience studying neuroscience.

TL;DR: The wavelength of light used by this device stimulates a type of cell in the eye that helps with guiding sleep/wake cycles. Just don’t look at the light directly.

Well, we are very sensitive to light on any part of our body and even light on our hand or foot will impact us physiologically, when we are still asleep and move us toward awakening…if our sleep isn’t drugged…in response to other more pressing physiological states!

UVB long and short wave light gets us our D3…which we tend to lack, well oh too often unless living in bright midday sun naked for 10-20 minutes a few times a week… w/o sunscreen. And longitude matters. D3 is critical for health. Light is it’s best source.

Is this gimmicky…? Will only say it sounds so because it delivers no information about how it is supposed to work differently than staring at your computer screen or any other b r i g h t source of light. Light will stimulate…is that it?? More electromagnetic frequency…is that really enough to warrant a purchase? Or eye stimulation…? Those sections of our brain seem to me to be overstimulated these days, as it is, given our contact w technology 24/7. Light dark cycles have nerve circuitry in our hypothalamus that along with thermal regulation, link us to our cold water mammal ancestors. We need our dark as well as our light. The light we need is not the light coming thru glass UVA, nor the constant rays of sun throughout the day–problematic. We do need express and specific light absorption for D3 production, as mentioned. Get it. Help your health.
I am sure this works as a stimulant. I don’t want a stimulant in an overstimulated area of my brain. I don’t think it’s addressing any area of health. I suggest reading up on our sleep/waking needs and EMF protection and the effects of super bright lights on our brain and body.

So to me it sounds misinformed and misrepresenting and marketing to a market of mistaken desire and I’d say thinking…but I don’t hear alot of intelligent or scientific or a n y kind or thought. This makes me a bit suspicious and nervous.