NORTH-EAST doctors are claiming a world first after independent research proved the healing power of infrared light therapy.

The County Durham medics believe that their invention could have far-reaching implications for the way many diseases are treated, from cancer to the common cold.

The discovery paves the way for infrared light-generating devices to be used to help protect people against common, but potentially serious, viruses such as influenza.

The two doctors already market a hand-held device called Virulite, which has been shown to rapidly heal cold sores.

Independent research into a second hand-held device, called Restorelite, which appears to be able to reduce the appearance of wrinkling, is due to be published next year.

But the significance of the Sunderland University research, published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, is that other scientists now have to take their claims seriously.

"It is the first time we have been able to show that it works," said an elated Dr Gordon Dougal, a GP in Peterlee, County Durham, who has worked on the light therapy concept in his own home laboratory over the past decade.

"This is a tremendous therapeutic tool which has great potential, especially in terms of viral infections," he added.

Dr Dougal has been interested in the potential healing properties of light for many years and, after forging a business partnership with Darlington Memorial Hospital eye surgeon Jim Haslam, went into business.

The two men have already sold more than 3,000 Restorelite anti-wrinkling devices as well as thousands of Virulite machines around the world.

Now they are looking for new applications for their technology.

The Sunderland study, which involved exposing human white blood cells to different light wavelengths in a controlled environment, proved that infrared light with a wavelength of 1,072 nanometers had a measurable, positive effect on immune cells, or lymphocytes.

It also demonstrated that the same wavelength provides a measure of protection against the damaging effects of ultraviolet light.

"No pharmaceutical product can improve the resilience of immune cells, so this phenomenon is a world first," said Dr Dougal.

While it is early days, Dr Dougal believes that light therapy might help patients fight off everything from cancer to colds and influenza.