Autism patients suffer from social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. Many therapies promise to cure autism. MeRT treatment is in a top position on that list. For those who do not know what MeRT treatment is we are going to explain everything.
What is MeRT treatment?
MeRT stands for Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy. It is a step ahead of treatment. MeRT treatment balance and stimulate brain function with the help of a magnetic field.
Autism is the brain working differently. So it is not an illness but some autistic people need help to live a normal life. But it is a spectrum where everyone with autism is different. Some autistic people need little to no external help while some people need to take care of them every day. That is why personalized treatment for autism is important.
MeRT treatment is working better as personalized treatment. Brain communication must be organized and in sync. MeRT protocols are made to optimize brain communication. But it changed to fit each child. The starting point varies with the position of the patient in the spectrum.
Is MeRT treatment successful?
There are many success stories of this therapy. Some are very satisfying. Frankie’s story is one of them. Frankie was born in New Jersey. He lived his first year without any difference from others. But his mother noticed Frankie did not speak even though he is 18 months old now. After introducing him to a consultant neurologist, they got to know Frankie has autism.
They took action as responsible parents after the news. Attending him to a special preschool and kindergarten, many speech therapies might help him a little. But it was painful to watch and Frankie had another problem. He was toe-walking.
Frankie’s father read about a place in California that could help his child. But it is the other side of the country. So, he was not motivated to go there. However, finally, Frankie could go to California on a plane. He attended the Brain Treatment Center where he has undergone MeRT treatment. Now he is speaking and his foot is flat on the ground.
Is MeRT FDA approved?
The Food and Drug Administration has a responsibility to ensure the safety of drugs, biological products, and medical devices. That includes MeRT equipment. The FDA approval is compulsory for selling any medical device. Using unapproved devices is illegal and put the patient in great danger.
Many disorders and injuries can cure by MeRT. But for each one of them, equipment and procedure need changes. Hence they need FDA approval individually. FDA requires animal and human clinical testing data. So it takes some time to complete everything. But they must ensure safety.
Only Major Depressive Disorder is approved for MeRT treatment by FDA. But Brain Treatment Center said Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will get approval in near future. Ongoing researches show us that MeRT treatment is effective for many other conditions. We will see them on the list for FDA approval soon.
What is the difference between TMS and MeRT?
TMS or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is a treatment for depression using magnetic fields without inserting instruments into the body. It has many similarities with MeRT. But MeRT treatment is a more improved version of TMS.
TMS treatment is used to treat patients similarly. Most of the time it uses fixed frequency stimulation to a single area of the brain. MeRT is the opposite. It follows an individually unique approach to cure patients. Doctors change the frequency, location, and power to fit the patient. Where to start and how long treatment should continue is different for each one.
MeRT is a combination of three technologies
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
- Quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG)
- Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG)
How long does MeRT treatment last?
One session of MeRT takes 45 minutes approximately. Since MeRT is a personalized treatment, these numbers are not fixed. Normally an appointment contains 30 electromagnetic stimulation trains. A stimulation takes 6 seconds to deliver. Then there is a 54 seconds rest before the next train on another specific location on the brain.
Longer the therapy session, the longer the effects of MeRT treatment stay. If it is longer than a month effects will stay for a long time. In Frankie’s case, he only stayed in California for a month when he spoke the first sentence. Doctors said he will develop his verbal communication skills even without further MeRT treatments. Slowly but it will happen.
MeRT treatment for cognitive performance
Cognitive performance can decrease over time due to many reasons such as age. It may feel weak both physically and mentally. An easy way to find out whether your cognitive performance declined is by checking for the below symptoms.
- Hard to concentrate
- Feeling low energetic
- Burnout
- Reduced motivation
- Chronic fatigue
- Brain fog
- Depression or anxiety
- Reduced ability to handle stress
- Hard to memorize
- Overall feelings of dullness or numbness
MeRT treatment is a non-invasive and drug-free way to optimize cognitive performance. But as we said it is still not cleared by FDA. So, it is “off-label”. But MeRT treatment benefits cognitive performance declined patients in the below ways.
- Better sleep
- Motivated mind
- Improved ability to focus
- Increased attention span and less response to distractions
- Reduced anxiety
- Better mood
- Clarify thinking skills
- Clever decision-making
- Stable emotions
- Fewer cravings for alcohol and/or drugs
- Feeling more energetic
- Improved social skills
- Improved self-confidence
- Elevated sports/athletic performance
Brains are like fingerprints. No one has a brain that works like you. dysfunction or communication problems in your brain are also unique. That is why a personalized treatment like MeRT is one of the best therapy to increase cognitive performance.
Treatments contain 45-minute appointments and 2-week assessment periods. The assessment period is important because doctors can confirm how treatments affected you. It is slightly different from treatment for an autistic child. MeRT treatment is not a painful one. The patient only has to do is sit in a chair.
Now you know about MeRT treatment. There is more pharmaceutical and medical stuff to read. Check our other articles. Stay curious.
