Cardiovascular health is important for wellbeing and longevity, yet nearly 20% of Americans aged 65+ have been diagnosed with heart disease.  Adding red light therapy as a preventative measure can help boost heart health in healthy individuals as well as those with existing circulatory system problems. This article explores the therapeutic connection between red light therapy and heart disease.

Red light therapy uses wavelengths in the visible (red) and invisible infrared range. These are safe and highly therapeutic in thousands of human and animal studies. It is non-invasive, safe, and effective. Studies suggest that because of its revitalizing properties, long-term daily use may be beneficial to heart health and longevity.  Most red light therapy today is delivered by LED devices.  Red light therapy promotes beneficial biological responses by boosting mitochondrial energy which directly affects cellular functions including repair and regeneration.  Red and near infrared wavelengths stimulate the synthesis of ATP, which is the primary fuel of our cells. This effect promotes heart and cardiovascular health but also other systems in the body. The other three primary benefits of red light therapy include reduced inflammation, improved circulation, and regulated collagen synthesis.  Myocardial collagen is extremely important for the heart muscles to operate normally — and its production declines with age. Older adults also often suffer from increased chronic inflammation and decreased circulation due to atherosclerosis, which contribute to heart disease.

Treating heart disease with red light therapy involves lowering blood pressure, improving circulation, supporting the muscles of the heart, and reducing inflammation. For example, 630nm red light reduced heart size, reduced pulmonary edema, and improved cardiac function in mice with heart failure. Red light therapy has been shown as a useful therapy for promoting healing and slowing the progression of age-related heart disease and hypertension, recovery from stroke, and treatment of heart arrhythmias. Although not necessarily directly related to heart disease, stroke is a circulatory disorder that can benefit from red light therapy. In a small study of ten stroke patients, the patients who received red light therapy had better functional mobility than patients who did not receive red light treatments.  Perhaps most importantly, red light therapy boosts cellular energy production in heart tissue. This can help prevent heart disease as well as help the heart heal after a heart attack. Near infrared light (NIR) supports myocardial tissue after a heart attack. The mitochondria in heart tissue is responsible for converting raw materials into cellular fuel. After a heart attack, the mitochondria enter a shocked state and cannot produce adequate energy (ATP) which complicates recovery. NIR supports ATP synthesis to help these damaged tissues heal. NIR light also increases the number of new cells and prevents the loss of newly formed cells in a damaged heart.

Red light therapy can be useful in treating conditions that could contribute to heart disease. This treatment is not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle, but should be used as an additional therapy to help prevent heart disease.

n a 2023 animal study, researchers concluded that red light therapy may slow cardiovascular aging and help prevent age-related heart deterioration and support healthy cardiac chamber dilation and function. For an aging population, this is important news. Biological aging results in decreased cellular function, which translates on a larger scale to loss of organ function and the development and progression of heart failure and other age-related diseases such as dementia. The study mentioned above explored the effect of red light therapy on heart function. Mice with heart disease were exposed to 850nm near infrared light for two minutes per day for five days per week over a period of 4-½ months. The light was delivered from an overhead LED light source rather than a targeted application of light to the heart area.  In this study, researchers noted an improvement in heart function, specifically neuromuscular coordination, as well as mitigating the thickness of the cardiac wall. After treatment with red light therapy, echocardiograms showed no progression of heart disease and improved circulation, with a 100% survival rate compared to the 43% survival rate of mice with heart disease.   The study was halted for several months due to Covid; but the therapeutic effects of the treatments of the initial period of 3 months persisted during the break which suggests that the effects are long-term.

Midlife hypertension, which is a characteristic of heart disease, has been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s Disease. Red light therapy controls high blood pressure which may have a side benefit in mitigating age-related Alzheimer’s Disease.

High serum cholesterol increases the risk of cardiac diseases. Red light therapy has shown effectiveness in significantly reducing cholesterol and triglyceride levels in ICU patients: 10 received 650-660nm red light treatments for 55 minutes every four days for two successive weeks. The control group received a sham treatment.

Red light therapy promotes cardiogenesis — the formation of new heart muscle cells — as well as increasing mitochondrial vitality in heart tissue cells. This could reduce the incidence of heart attacks and the number of deaths due to heart failure. Other studies show that red light offers protection against cardiac ischemia in diabetics, and protection from the formation of aortic aneurysms and arrhythmias.

Improved blood circulation is one of the hallmarks of this therapy. Red light therapy stimulates nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide helps relax and dilate blood vessels which could be useful in treating peripheral artery disease (PAD) which is characterized by narrowed blood vessels in the legs. Red light therapy also promotes angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels from existing blood vessels.