Crystallization of light and medicine _ the incredible maze of light crystallization

Since ancient times? Generation after generation, mankind almost worships light. In ancient Greek mythology, Apollo, the sun god, was second only to Zeus, the god of gods. The growth of everything depends on sunlight. It can be said that it is from this simple observation that human beings realize the significance of light to life and try to introduce it into the means of treating diseases.

The earliest method of using light to treat diseases is extremely primitive. Ancient Mayans exposed patients with skin diseases to the sun, believing that the sun god could drive away evil spirits in patients. According to China's ancient geomantic theory, it is very important to make the owner healthy and happy.

However, in the development of modern medicine, optics has not been paid attention to by people and has been on the edge of medicine for a long time. It was not until the appearance of Danish medical scientist Finn that light really became a formal medical means.

Explore diseases originating from smallpox

Niles Rehberg? Finson was born in Toles Port, the capital of the Faroe Islands in Denmark, on 1860. As the ninth child in the family, he is the most beloved little guy in the family. 1876, 16 years old, Finson finished his studies in Denmark and returned to his grandmother's house in Iceland. Here, Fensen finished his middle school study. Because of his excellent achievements in mathematics and biology, he was admitted to the pharmacy major of Copenhagen University in Denmark, and his main direction was to improve the medical level of smallpox. Suffering from echinococcosis, he feels with amazing scientific intuition that the light that accompanies us every day may be a brand-new means to treat smallpox. Finson repeatedly consulted relevant literature and found that as early as 1877, two British scientists, Downs and Brent, had studied the role of sunlight in medical treatment. They think that sunlight is really effective for some diseases. This is because ultraviolet rays or other components in sunlight have bactericidal effect on bacteria. However, due to the research conditions at that time, the two scientists failed to specifically point out which radiation has a significant bactericidal effect on which bacteria, and did not further explain which diseases can be treated by optical therapy. Therefore, this research result has not attracted great attention from the medical community. 1890, Finson received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Copenhagen. After graduation, he stayed at his alma mater as an experimental teaching assistant in anatomy. Two years later, in order to devote more time to scientific research, he resolutely quit his comfortable and well-paid job at his alma mater and devoted all his energy to the research of phototherapy. In the process of research, Finson gradually discovered such a rule, because the time and intensity of light with different wavelengths in the spectrum are different, and the influence on organisms is also different. Through experiments, he found that purple light with high refractive index, such as blue-violet light and ultraviolet light, which are called chemical light in the natural spectrum, will make smallpox patients have a high fever and blisters on their skin, leaving pockmarks in the light and dying in the heavy; The other end of the spectrum-red light and infrared light with low refractive index belong to thermal rays, and their chemical effects are very small, which can not only accelerate the recovery of acne, but also prevent complications caused by normal illumination. Therefore, Finson put smallpox patients in a red room for light radiation treatment. The patient not only saved his life, but also left no common acne pits after smallpox rehabilitation. According to these valuable experimental data, Fensen invented the "Fensen lamp" named after himself. This instrument is hung high in the treatment room and emits light with a specific wavelength to treat smallpox patients. In 893, Finson published this research result, which brought hope to many smallpox patients in the world.

Study on lupus erythematosus

Finson found that light can cure smallpox? Shortly after the revelation, he went to a seaside fishing village in Iceland to recuperate due to illness. He found that a terrible infectious disease prevailed among local fishermen, which was a very refractory skin tuberculosis, mainly damaging people's facial features and cheeks, and most patients died because they could not be treated. Faced with this situation, as a doctor, a strong sense of responsibility made Fensen put aside his illness and recuperation, thus turning to the optical treatment of lupus erythematosus. After the study, it was found that although lupus erythematosus and smallpox are two completely different diseases, they both show serious skin damage in patients' clinical symptoms. So the idea of treating lupus erythematosus by optical therapy is feasible in theory! However, there is a difference between the two after all. The treatment of lupus erythematosus requires more chemically active ultraviolet rays than smallpox infrared rays. 1895, 1 1 In June, 2008, Finson conducted his first experiment in Copenhagen Power Plant. An engineer in a power plant was seriously ill and could not be cured for a long time, so he became his first patient. After a period of phototherapy, the hopeless engineer miraculously recovered and the scar on his face basically healed and subsided. Finson's first experiment was a great success. 1896, Finson published a paper entitled "Application of chemical condensation in medicine". 1896, only two patients were willing to receive Finson's optical therapy. By 1897, Finson had independently operated a laboratory built in a shack next to the hospital, and at the same time 15 patients were receiving his treatment. As he cured more and more patients, Finson became more and more famous. That year, the mayor of Copenhagen personally allocated funds to help him set up the Fensen Institute of Optical Medicine. Finson brought back the hope and gospel of life to patients with smallpox and skin tuberculosis. People call him a "magic doctor who cures diseases with light". 1899, the Danish government awarded Finson the title of "Knight" in recognition of his outstanding contribution to medical progress, which is a very high honor in Denmark. 1900, a doctor friend of Finson introduced Finson's research results to medical researchers all over the world at an international medical forum. The news that the once incurable lupus erythematosus was conquered by Danish doctors caused a sensation at the conference. Finson became famous all over the world and became one of the most prestigious dermatologists at that time.

1903 65438+February 10 is a great day in the history of Danish science. The Royal Swedish Karolinia Institute of Medicine announced that Finson decided to award him the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology that year in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the research of overcoming lupus erythematosus, which is also the first Nobel Prize in Danish history. Therefore, Finson was called the hero of the motherland by Danish nationals, but at this time, Finson did not appear on the podium. As a result of years of work, he knew that he was terminally ill, and there was not much time left, so he had to continue his research bit by bit. Regrettably, just one year after winning the Nobel Prize, on September 24th, 1904, Finson left his beloved laboratory forever because of his illness. Before his death, he donated 57Y kronor from the Nobel Prize as a fund to the Institute of Photomedicine, and also donated 50,000 kronor to a sanatorium for heart and liver diseases he founded. Finson's last wish was to donate his body to study echinococcosis. 1 month later, Finson's body was placed in a church in Denmark, and Danish nationals held a funeral for him, second only to the king, to commemorate Finson's great contribution.

The ups and downs of optical therapy in the past hundred years

However, just after Fensen's death, because Fensen lamp therapy was gradually found to be accompanied by serious side effects, the research of optical therapy had to come to a standstill. Even in 1895, physicist roentgen accidentally discovered X-rays while exploring the nature of cathode rays, becoming the first Nobel Prize winner in physics. X-rays are only used as a diagnostic means, not a therapeutic means. With the discovery of a series of antibiotics, especially the invention of flemming penicillin in 1928, mankind has entered an unprecedented new era of medicine relying on drug treatment. Whether it is tuberculosis or lupus erythematosus, these diseases that can't be cured in the past are fragile in the face of new anti-tuberculosis combined drug treatment and will be defeated. However, in this prosperous time of seemingly conquering diseases in an all-round way, what is hidden is the fatal mistake of human beings. Nearly half a century has passed, and there are more and more kinds of drugs, but people are horrified to find that the disease is gradually escalating in the constant renewal of drugs. In the face of cancer and AIDS, we still do nothing. People began to reflect on the disadvantages of the treatment method that relied too much on drugs for half a century, and turned their attention to the long-forgotten optical therapy again.

First of all, the most prominent thing in phototherapy is the use of laser medical means. 1960 In the summer, American scientist Mayman made the world's first ruby laser, and a completely novel light source was born. Laser is a kind of pure artificial light that does not exist in nature. Its light, electricity, magnetism, heat, mechanical pressure and biological stimulation make the complicated treatment process of many diseases simple and effective, which opens up a new field for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Because of its high directivity and precision, Zeret et al. announced the first medical experimental research on the application of laser in ophthalmology at 196 1, that is, only one year after the invention of laser. Subsequently, the clinical application of laser entered a period of rapid development. 1963, Goldman et al. used laser to treat skin diseases effectively. 1966, people cut the skin with a laser knife focused by a high-energy laser. Later, vocal cord resection and thoracotomy were performed, and laser surgery became popular. For example, laser scalpel is used in cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, freckle removal, caries treatment, fat removal, induced abortion, tumor removal, hemorrhoid treatment and acute deafness.

The main mechanism of phototherapy used by Fensen in that year was to kill irradiated cells by using the thermal effect of infrared rays or the photochemical effect of ultraviolet rays, so as to achieve the purpose of killing pathogenic cells. However, the disadvantage that comes with it is "grabbing the beard and glaring". Although it killed harmful cells, it also damaged healthy tissues and cells, which was later. The main reasons for quitting the medical stage. However, with people's research on a "photo-allergy phenomenon", phototherapy has a "re-emergence" day. 1887, the German scholar Ruan Bi first discovered that the skin of mice injected with a certain dye subcutaneously would be red and swollen after illumination, indicating that it was damaged. 19 13 years, Meyer injected himself with 200 mg of crude hematoporphyrin, which produced a strong photo-allergic reaction and lasted for several months. This is the first time that human beings have observed the sensitization of human skin caused by hematoporphyrin. Simply put, photosensitivity is a process in which foreign photosensitizers enter cells and undergo metabolism through an "excitation-reduction" path under the action of light. However, a large number of substances such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by this reaction have toxic effects on cells, so they can kill cells that have absorbed photosensitizers. According to this principle, in the 1940s, someone put forward the concept of "PDT" for the clinical treatment of tumors, that is, according to the different half-lives of photosensitizers in different tissues and the characteristics of tumor-friendly tissues, after a certain period of time, the concentration of photosensitizers in tumor tissues is higher than that in normal tissues around them, and then the targeted killing of cancer cells is realized by light irradiation. Compared with Fensen therapy, photodynamic therapy has higher orientation and accuracy, and can accurately locate tumor cells, so the corresponding side effects are also small, and it can be applied to various patients who are not suitable for surgery and other treatment methods. Because of the above advantages, photodynamic therapy has attracted the attention of the medical community as soon as it was put forward, and it is considered as a brand-new medical technology revolution. Since 1950s, photodynamic therapy has been widely used in the early diagnosis and treatment of various superficial tumors. After the invention of laser, the application scope of photodynamic therapy has been greatly expanded because of replacing visible light with high-energy laser beam.

1996, FDA officially approved its clinical use. 1997, FDA listed it as one of the five basic methods of tumor treatment (surgery, radiation, chemical drugs, photodynamic therapy, biochemical immunotherapy), and it really went clinical. Looking forward to the future, if more and better specific photosensitizers can be found, the application scope of photodynamic therapy will be greatly expanded, and it may even become one of the treatment schemes for AIDS, not just the treatment of tumors. Its medical potential will be further explored with the support of various new technologies.

Through the ancient ignorance and the modern Nobel aura, although it was once almost forgotten by people, after a hundred years of ups and downs in the medical field, phototherapy inherited the mantle of Fensen, and finally ushered in its second spring at the turn of the new century, blooming its strong vitality.

Editor sang Xinhua