Ion therapy

Ion therapy uses a special electronic device that generates negatively charged particles. Negative ion therapy has been shown to alleviate symptoms associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Negative ions contain an extra electron, and are created naturally by the sun, wind, and moving water. Such molecules, in high enough concentrations, neutralize odors and make air cleaner. In themselves, they are imperceptible. One theory suggests that oxygenation of the blood is enhanced in highly ionized environments.

The Center for Environmental Therapeutics, a nonprofit research and education group, describes the psychological effects of negative air ionization:

There appears to be a connection between air ions and mood. Long touted in the pop literature as a mood enhancer, it was not until the 1990’s that this environmental factor was evaluated for antidepressant properties. The initial clinical trial by Drs. Michael and Jiuan Su Terman at Columbia, reported in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, focused on patients with seasonal affective disorder as they experienced major depressive episodes in winter. They found high-density negative ions to be as effective as light therapy in treatment of this disorder. Low density was ineffective. The trial was performed in a true “randomized double blind,” since humans are unable to perceive or detect ion level in the air circulation. Since the first clinical trial, the effect has been replicated in patients with chronic, nonseasonal depression, most of whom had experienced inadequate response to antidepressant drugs. Subsequent clinical trials published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, Psychological Medicine and the American Journal of Psychiatry have replicated and extended the effect, even including patients with chronic, nonseasonal depression.

Recent advances in technology have led to the development of small, compact ion generators that can produce levels of ion density sufficient for biological effect. Although the original clinical trial relied on ion exposure during the day in timed treatment sessions, more recently the method has been shown also to work during sleep, providing an innocuous, automatic and imperceptible antidepressant effect within a few weeks. Thus far, however, there have been no studies of the potential additional benefit of combining negative air ion therapy with drug or light treatment.

The dosing of negative air ions appears to be critical for its mood-enhancing effect. Very high levels are needed, above levels provided by most standard home air cleaners. Clinical trials of negative air ionization have maximized the dose (or ion flow to the subject) with a grounded wrist strap (for daytime use) or bed sheet (for use during sleep), reducing the flow to other grounded objects in the environment such as radiators, walls and radio/TV.