• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.546-555
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• 2014

Objectives: Recently, many studies have reported beneficial effects from the application of laser and light-emitting diode (LED) therapy for cerebral nervous disease. Transcranial laser therapy and LED therapy may be an effective method to treat diseases of the cerebral nervous system. This study aims to discuss the possibility of laser and LED therapy for cerebral nervous disease by reviewing literature about its effectiveness. Methods: We searched papers using PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, KTKP, Oasis and NDSL, using the keywords "Laser therapy, low-level", "Transcranial laser", "Transcranial light emitting diode" and "stroke", "traumatic brain injury", "dementia", "anxiety", "cognitive", "emotional effects", "psychiatric disorder", "multiple sclerosis", "Parkinson's disease". The search range included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical case series. Reviews and animal experiments were not included. Studies not matched with inclusion criteria were excluded. Results: A total 1,119 studies were found. 1,100 were excluded from scanning titles and abstracts and finally 9 articles were selected. Among the 9 articles, 5 were RCTs, one was a controlled study, and the other 3 were case reports. They reported that transcranial laser therapy and LED treatment had beneficial effects from photobiomodulation to the cerebral nervous system. Clinical evaluation factors showed favorable trends. Conclusions: Transcranial laser therapy and LED therapy seem to be effective to the cerebral nervous system and they may be a favorable choice for cerebral nervous disease.