Yet another confounder on the laser market…
By Jan Tunér
“In June 2009, Radiant Life Technologies made what amounts to the greatest breakthrough in medical science this century: coMra-Therapy.”
Extraordinary claim! The next Nobel prize? No, unfortunately just another agent on the market trying to use a scientific jargon to fool customers. As a layman you can easily be impressed by the well-designed products on a well-designed web page. But what is it, really? Let’s have a look at the claims:
“coMra-Therapy is based on MIL-Therapy and the principle known as Coherent Multi-Radiances. The forefathers of MIL-Therapy knew that there are essentially four radiant energies that have to be synthesised into working together as one coherent whole. These energies are: 1. Infrared laser, 2. Four basic colours: red - green - indigo violet - yellow, 3. Magnetism and 4. Ultrasound.”
And what are the medical indications? Most of them are familiar in LPT literature, some having a fair documentation, others having just a scant documentation. But the coMra treatment is better, it can be used for e.g. “Allergies, Bed-wetting, Colitis, Diabetes, Epicondylitis, Fibromyalgia, Hepatitis, Insomnia and Lupus, to Migraines, Osteoporosis, Prostatitis, Raynaud’s Syndrome, Sprained Muscles, Thyroiditis, Ulcers, Varicose Veins, and Warts to mention a few.” OK, maybe most of them, but what about senile dementia, schizophrenia, psychosis? That is laying on fat! And thereby losing all credibility, with a “spill over” to serious laser manufacturers.
So, what is this sensational coMra therapy? It is a handpiece that contains a combination of one or two lasers (808, 905 or 980 nm), four LED diodes of different colours, a magnet and an ultrasound piece. This is based upon an amateurish notion that whatever may work will be even better in combinations. This is just wishful thinking. The power of the laser diodes is maximum 10 mW, so at best you have a laser for 6.800 euro producing 20 mW. The lasers are pulsed (no science available), so probably even lower output. So much for the laser part. The magnetism part is also questionable. The combination of lasers and magnets have been promoted by some Russian companies. Checking “LLLT magnet” on PubMed results in two Russian and one German paper. So much for the science. As for the colour part, I am unfamiliar with it but have little reason to believe in the “coherent” effect of the four methods. Ultrasound is known to be useful for some conditions, although LPT is proven to be better. But it is all in the parameters. Anyone feeling comfortable with Frequency: 40 kHz Sound Pressure: 0 dB at contact, -30 dB at 30 cm (max)?
Radiant Life Technologies makes it clear that they have a “holistic” approach. “Holistic” can mean several things but too often it means therapies without any scientific base. The inclusion of “chakras” in the discussion underlines this.
The company web page offers many case presentations but no science. There are a few company originated articles with references, but none of these have used 10 mW. And none have tested the miraculous coMra combination. The problem with companies promoting home tailored theories such as soliton and scalar waves is that even if their claims are false, just using any kind of laser can have surprisingly good results in individual cases. But that does not prove that the claimed mechanism is true or that the laser parameters are even near the centre of the therapeutic window.
Mark Twain said it best: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”!