“we will continue to present … at conferences [and] share information with anybody interested in their own well-being” – Pekka Somerto, Valkee CEO
The mainstay of Valkee’s marketing has been the production of pseudoscientific congress presentations in lieu of scientific journal articles. Their website has more than half a dozen such commercial posters, meant to deceive the lay reader about the efficacy and background of Valkee’s device.
However, a number of studies does not make it into Valkee’s ad circus, despite their leaders’ promise to “inform our customers” whenever “new results become available”. One of three buried studies known to earlightswindle.com was done to show an effect on the cardiovascular system. If earlight mysteriously “activates” the brain, what does it do with the heart and the blood pressure? You may guess it: Nothing.
The following abstract is from a poster drowned among hundreds of its kind on the EuroPRevent 2013 congress. Like all other earlight studies, this one is not published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Abstract: P534 |
Effects of transcranial bright light treatment on cardiovascular autonomic regulation |
Authors: MP Tulppo1, AM Kiviniemi1, AJ Hautala1, J Karjalainen1, JJ Jaakkola2, TM Ikaheimo2, J Nissila3, H Jurvelin3, T Takala4, HV Huikuri5 |
Topic(s): Hypertension (Rehabilitation & Implementation) |
Citation: European Journal of Preventive Cardiology ( April 2013 ) 20 ( Supplement 1 ), 96 |
Purpose: A recent study suggests that transcranial brain targeted light treatment via ear canals may have physiological effects on brain function studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques in humans. We tested the hypothesis that an acute transcranial bright light treatment via ear canals may have effects on autonomic regulation in mild hypertensive subjects. |
The only transient difference between placebo and Valkee treatment was found for a tertiary calculated value: Very low frequency (VLF) oscillations are for instance dependent on the ambient temperature. The difference vanished quickly and was not seen at the end of the recordings, after approx. 10 minutes. The VLF measure is very questionable.
SDNN is not valid for short-time recordings (same source). The authors have a background in physiology, they surely know that they are faking.
The important LF and HF values were unchanged, and heart rate and blood pressure did not change with earlight.
“In clinical trials … Valkee light exposure has been evidenced to have effects that also regular sunlight has: reduced stress and blood pressure, elevated mood … “– Timo Ahopelto
A dubious study for a dubious device – and Valkee spreads dubious information.
How many buried negative Valkee trials may be out there? One more will be featured on this blog soon.
On twitter: @earlightswindle #valkeeleaks – or simply #Valkee.
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Update 14.3.2014: This trial was announced by Valkee’s Timo Ahopelto shortly before their bust in 2012. A good example of how Valkee’s trials and publications are announced by their marketing team and later vanish without any word. At the same source a second broken promise – also the Kärpät Ice Hockey trial remains still unpublished.