Danger, laser thermometers are damaging your pineal gland, or not!
Introduction
In the last ten months, I experienced many firsts in my life. Irrational discussions, pseudo-science, and quackery are the highest ever since the dissolution of the flat earth society. Well, the truth is I have at least one friend who is a flat earther, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. One of the ideas voiced was the idea of damaging the pineal gland by using laser thermometers. I didn't have time to do the research when it came up so I am doing it now.
As with most good conspiracy theories, there are always elements of truth. There is just enough science to misguide the unwitting. There are two major categories of people ascribing to the idea that thermometers are dangerous. The radical tin foil hat wearing bunch and the misguided but well-meaning bunch. They are all concerned with “energy” issues related to damage to the “third eye.” When you use an infrared thermometer, some models have a laser pointer directed at the center of the forehead for accuracy, targeting the “third eye,” thus the pineal gland.
The Pineal Gland
Most articles reference the pineal gland's correct anatomy, and the majority even spell it correctly. Surprisingly, calcification is the primary concern due to thermal damage from a Class III laser. And calcification is a legitimate concern with the pineal gland. They are also concerned about retina damage to children's eyes because they squirm so much. Again, this is a possibility, even if very remote. The list of symptoms most people describe is accurate in impaired pineal gland function. Even more fascinating is the genesis of their story has scientific merit…in reptiles and rats. Guillot et al. 1995, describe a study using a soft laser on the exposed pineal gland of rats, and Lemali et al. 1981, conducted a study on laser irradiation on frogs. If you only read the abstracts and headlines and ignored mammalian and amphibian anatomy and physiology, you could piece this story together very quickly…including references It doesn't explain the Georgia Guidestones or Matrix Control, but I digress.
The pineal gland has a long and studied history. Galen, around 200 AD, first described and studied the gland. The name pineal gland references its resemblance to a pine cone. Until the 19th and 20th century, most scientists described the pineal gland's function mostly in metaphysical terms. It was considered the seat of the soul. The discovery in 1958 of circadian rhythms and the hormone melatonin in the '60s changed how scientists viewed the gland. Despite the intervening 60 years, scientists still have a lot to learn about the pineal gland's molecular nuances.
Conclusion
After reading the survey by Stehle et al. 2011, I am pretty confident I could spend a month or two researching and studying the pineal gland alone. There are so many fascinating aspects to its interactions in the human body. I am a fan of blue light blocking glasses, and after researching the pineal gland, I have an even greater interest. The connection between the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the pineal gland, cognitive disorders, social jet-lag, autism, and so much more is fascinating. Until I did this research, I never considered being blind and how this affects the circadian rhythms and melatonin production. Knowing that every cell in the human body has its own timekeeping mechanism, driven by hormone changes regulated by light, is impressive. While there are numerous consequences to a disruption in the pineal gland, I think you are safe leaving your tinfoil hat at home next time you go to the grocery.
References
Forehead thermometers – Are they safe? (2020, September 9). Awakened-UK. https://awakeneduk.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/forehead-thermometers-are-they-safe-2/
Guillot Valls, M. D., Hernández Gil de Tejada, T., & Martínez-Soriano, F. (1995). A morphometric and statistical study of the effects of soft laser (He-Ne) irradiation on the pineal gland. Histology and histopathology, 10(2), 351–358.
Kemali, M., Delfino, G., & Casale, E. (1981). The effect of laser irradiation on the frog pineal. Zeitschrift fur mikroskopisch-anatomische Forschung, 95(3), 321–331.
Laios K. (2017). The Pineal Gland and its earliest physiological description. Hormones (Athens, Greece), 16(3), 328–330. https://doi.org/10.14310/horm.2002.1751
Please protect your pineal gland from temperature check guns. (2020, July 25). Alternative Principles For Health. Retrieved November 2, 2020, from https://alternativeprinciplesforhealth.info/please-protect-your-pineal-gland-from-temperature-check-guns/
Sign the petition. (n.d.). Change.org. https://www.change.org/p/inter-agency-task-force-protect-your-pineal-gland-proper-infrared-thermometer-reference-point
Stehle, J. H., Saade, A., Rawashdeh, O., Ackermann, K., Jilg, A., Sebestény, T., & Maronde, E. (2011). A survey of molecular details in the human pineal gland in the light of phylogeny, structure, function and chronobiological diseases. Journal of pineal research, 51(1), 17–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-079X.2011.00856.x