From the earliest times, when primitive man worshipped the sun, (1500 BC the Rig Veda, a Sanskrit document from India), through the histories of the ancient Greeks and Romans, one can find references to the healing powers of light.

Henri de Mondeville (1260-1320 AD), used red light in the treatment of smallpox. John of Goddesden, physician to Eward II of England, in 1510 treated a prince with smallpox, using red dyes, red bedclothes and red curtains (diffuse red light), and cured him, without a vestige of pock marks. The rainbow, which always attracts interest and curiosity, remained a mystery until the studies by Isaac Newton in 1666, during the Black Plague. At the turn of the century a Danish doctor, Niels Finsen, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, for his work in treating smallpox and tuberculosis with light.

With the advent of modern antibiotics and improved hygiene, much of this history and old information has been forgotten or ignored. Given such a history, it is not surprising, that those who suggested that light could be used to treat disease, risked being accused of pursuing pseudo-science as it is known that quackery flourishes, in the twilight of knowledge.

In 1968, Hungarian and Canadian researchers used low powered laser light to stimulate acupuncture points. However, it was not until 1989, that sufficient, detailed, scientific information was available, to understand the interaction of light with tissue. In 1990, with the advent of superbright diode technology, and then in 1991, with the publication of textbooks on Bioenergetics (the transfer of energy across cell membranes), it was possible to introduce a rational, scientific, advanced method of treatment.

PHOTONIC THERAPY is basically the scientific application of light, to particular areas of the skin of increased electrical conductivity, to produce particular physiological results.

We all have information about our environment, such as light intensity, temperature, or clothing touching the skin, flooding into the brain the whole time. The brain, has the ability to switch off and ignore these signals. It is the same with pain. If a condition goes on for more than four to six weeks, the brain learns to accept the problem.

The energy of light (photons) is transformed into electrical energy by the connective tissue under the skin. This electrical energy is transmitted to the brain by the nerves. Stimulating specific combinations of points on the skin, will cause the brain to release particular hormones and other chemicals to relieve pain, increase immune response, and promote healing.

McLaren Photonic Therapy utilizes broad band 660nm red light to provide the photons required to painlessly, and safely stimulate tissue. Visable light is a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum and ranges between 400-700nm. Wavelengths below 400nm (ultra violet) have high energy and do not penetrate deeply into tissue but can cause damage, such as melanomas. Above 700nm, in the infrared range there is less energy per photon, and longer treatment times are required.

McLaren Photonic Therapy has been successfully used to treat thousands of clinical cases in animals, painlessly, and without the risks associated with skin penetration. Also it is without the risks around the eyes, associated with the use of lasers. Because Photonic Therapy works so well on animals, it obviously does not rely on a psychosomatic, hypnotic, or placebo effect, but is a valid therapeutic modality.

Bacteria and other single cell organisms do not have a nervous system, but they have both a form of memory and a sense of direction, due to electrical potential differences across their cell membrane (wall). Sharks and fish use the electric fields around the body for prey detection, and communication as do the platypus and echidnas. Snakes have infrared sensors on their lips linked to the optic centre of their brains, while birds, higher mammals, and humans, have well developed eyes to receive and interpret electromagnetic radiation (visible light).