The evidence on safety and efficacy of Repeated Low-Level Red-Light Therapy

For parents who seek the evidence on safety and efficacy for RLRL:
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Publications;

• Ophthalmology 2022
  ‍Jiang, Yu, et al. “Effect of repeated low-level red-light therapy for myopia control in children: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.” Ophthalmology 129.5 (2022): 509-519.
  Conclusions: Repeated low-level red-light therapy is a promising alternative treatment for myopia control in children with good user acceptability and no documented functional or structural damage.
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• Ophthalmology 2022
  ‍Dong, Jing, et al. “Myopia Control Effect of Repeated Low-Level Red-Light Therapy in Chinese Children: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Clinical Trial.” Ophthalmology (2022).
  Conclusions: In myopic children, RLRL therapy with 100% power significantly reduced myopia progression over 6 months compared with those treated with a sham device of 10% original power. The RLRL treatment was well tolerated without treatment-related adverse effects.
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• Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology 2022
  Xiong, Ruilin, et al. “Sustained and rebound effect of repeated low‐level red‐light therapy on myopia control: A 2‐year post trial follow‐up study.” Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology (2022).
  Conclusions: Continued RLRL therapy sustained promising efficacy and safety in slowing myopia progression over 2 years. A modest rebound effect was noted after treatment cessation.
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• Ophthalmology 2022
  Xiong, Ruilin, et al. “Longitudinal changes and predictive value of choroidal thickness for myopia control following repeated low-level red-light therapy.” Ophthalmology (2022).
  Conclusions: This analysis from a multicenter RCT found RLRL therapy induced sustained choroidal thickening over the full course of treatment. Macular Choroidal Thickness changes at 3 months alone can predict 12-month myopia control efficacy with reasonable accuracy.
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• Ophthalmology and Therapy 2023
  Wang, Wel, et al. “Clinically Significant Axial Shortening in Myopic Children After Repeated Low-Level Red Light Therapy: A Retrospective Multicentre Analysis” Ophthalmology and Therapy (2023).
  Conclusions; More than a quarter of children had Axial Length (AL) shortening > 0.05 mm following RLRL therapy, and the overall mean AL change was −0.142 mm/year. Further studies should explore the mechanisms underlying AL shortening.
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‍Unpublished paper;

• A paper describing a new randomised trial in China has just been accepted by JAMA Network Open.
  "Effect of Repeated Low-Level Red-Light on Myopia Prevention in Pre-myopic Children: A randomized clinical trial"
  Summary: A 12- month, parallel-group, school-based randomized-controlled trial was conducted in Shanghai to assess for the first time the efficacy and safety of repeated low-level red-light (RLRL) treatment in preventing incident myopia in premyopic children.
  Results indicated up to 54.1% reduction in incident myopia within 12 months among pre-myopic children.