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The Neuroscience Center : Specializes in Treatment-Resistant Disorders

Oct 25, 2016 ● By Carrie Jackson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a leading multidisciplinary center for brain health and healing, The Neuroscience Center (TNC), in Deerfield, offers evaluations and treatment procedures that are usually not seen outside of a medical school. The staff at TNC is dedicated to the effective evaluation and comprehensive treatment of complex disorders using state-of-the-art technology. With a thoroughly holistic approach to care, they are able to treat a variety of conditions that have not responded to previous treatments.

     A   visit to TNC will begin with an extensive clinical interview, followed by a comprehensive evaluation that often starts with a Brain SPECT functional imaging, a non-invasive procedure that allows a physician to identify if the brain is optimally functioning, different than an MRI or other structural imaging process. “With the imaging information, combined with the other analyses, we are able to individualize and tailor the treatments and medication to each patient and accurately predict their success. We’ve moved beyond trial and error,” says Dan G. Pavel, M.D., director of PathFinder Brain SPECT. The workup and other analyses might include an electroencephalogram, specialized lab tests and nutritional analyses, plus biochemical and pharmacogenomic (genetic) assessments.

         Part of what makes TNC stand apart from other clinics is their record of success with treatment-refractory disorders, which include consequences of concussion, severe traumatic brain injuries, chronic pain, strokes, severe depression and many other behavioral and developmental disorders. A majority of its patients have already sought help at other places with little to no improvement. As the plan to restore homeostasis (balance) progresses, patients are able to control their actions, mood, sleep cycles and other factors that are preventing their healing. Through modification of nervous system function, the depression, pain, anxiety and other illnesses recede, so that patients can achieve an improved quality of life.

         Inflammation is the root cause of many disorders that TNC treats. The Brain SPECT imaging technique measures perfusion (blood flowing through capillaries), which is one aspect of inflammation. TNC thinks that the inflammation needs to be neutralized before the brain can recover and fully heal.

         Among the specialty treatments at TNC is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which requires a rigid and pressurized chamber to deliver 100 percent oxygen to a patient’s pulmonary system. The safe pressurization delivers the dissolved oxygen into every cell in the body at levels which are 15 to 20 times normal, accelerating the healing process of numerous conditions. The HBOT chamber helps revive some of the cells that are dormant, which then enables the body to heal itself. One of the HBOT chambers at TNC is unique to the region because it is outfitted with special safety features so that several patients can be treated simultaneously, or a caregiver or parent can personally attend to a nervous or frightened patient.

         A combination therapy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), administered along with an infusion of ketamine, is another groundbreaking form of therapy offered at TNC. This treatment results in the ability to stop depression with suicidal ideation and/or reduce intense pain with a better than 80 percent success rate, even in cases of non-response to medication and other treatments. This combination treatment was developed and patented at TNC.

         As a minimally invasive approach, this process stimulates relevant regions of the brain and does not interfere with other procedures. Patients receiving the combination therapy often see rapid relief from suffering and return to their normal lives in a matter of days or weeks, rather than months. The remission can last for a very long time, even years after completion of a series of treatments.

         People with brain diseases will have slower brainwave activity in a sleep-like state. Through treatments that include brain stimulation, HBOT and neurofeedback, TNC is able to awaken those areas so that they can do their work. 

The Neuroscience Center is located at 440 Lake Cook Rd., in Deerfield. For more information, call 847-236-9310 or visit NeuroScience.md. See ad on page 11.

Carrie Jackson is an Evanston-based writer and frequent contributor to Natural Awakenings magazine. Connect at CarrieJacksonWrites.com.