What is Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation?

Origins of UBI

Its origin dates back to the early 1900s, coming into mainstream use during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s to treat various conditions including pneumonia and tuberculosis. In its first incarnation, the procedure was to remove a small amount of blood, irradiate with UV light and then to reintroduce into the bloodstream. Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation lost favour due to its benefits being replicated in the form of antibiotics and almost completely disappeared from the public eye. That’s not to say that it vanished completely, as it was and still is used in some cases but the little medical evidence, caused by lack of research has hampered its uptake in recent years.

Modern Day of the Method

Recently, UBI has experienced something of a revival, with multiple medical reviews being carried out to prove its effectiveness. The old method of irradiating blood has been replaced with a more modern, less invasive and safer procedure. This new procedure is known as intravenous laser blood irradiation.

As part of this procedure, a catheter is applied to the arm allowing a fiberoptic cable to be fed into the vein. Once inserted, a low level laser or LED introduces various wavelengths of light that directly act upon the blood coursing through the patient’s veins. The benefits of this approach are that it removes the need to physically extract the blood from a patient's body and reintroduce it, which can for obvious reasons cause distress or apprehension in patients.

Proposed Mechanism of Action

The mechanism by which both types of blood irradiation are thought to work is multi-fold:

Direct or indirect bactericidal effects, causing the destruction of infective microorganisms

Increased oxygen absorption

Boosting the patient’s immune system

A vaccine effect caused by irradiated organisms being killed/destroyed and released into the bloodstream, eliciting the response

Uses Being Researched

In order to support uptake of this procedure, research is being carried out on the effectiveness of the approach on non-healing wounds, autoimmune disorders such as lupus, sepsis, general inflammation/sports related injuries and a whole host of other ailments and maladies.

Side Effects of the Technique

Because UBI is essentially just introducing UV light into the bloodstream and intravenous blood irradiation with the help of a laser is introducing only wavelengths of light, rather than a medicine or a chemical, the side effects are minimal. Bruising caused by insertion of the catheter and short lived fatigue are generally the only side effects seen.

The Future of UBI and Intravenous Laser Blood Irradiation

As previously mentioned, the newest incarnation of this irradiation is a much less invasive procedure utilising modern technologies to introduce UV wavelengths directly into the bloodstream. The new method makes this choice of treatment much more acceptable to patients due to the added safety. The ongoing medical research into the technique is generating more and more data with the end goal of making it a viable choice for practitioners in the medical profession.

John Peterson - professional writter.