Smoking Cessation
Quitting smoking can be brutally tough, but so important to long-term health. MeRT can help.
Call our New Patient Coordinator
for more information. Or fill out the form below.
MeRT can help you Quit Smoking for good!
Great news! The FDA has approved TMS technology (transcranial magnetic stimulation) for Smoking Cessation! Finally, a breakthrough treatment method for treating an unhealthy addiction.
Nicotine causes a strong physical, mental, and psychological dependence, making it a hard habit to quit. Many smokers use tobacco to manage unpleasant feelings and emotions. And believe it or not, two out of three smokers really want to quit, but find it too difficult to quit smoking.
At the Brain Treatment Center in Dallas, Dr. Spencer Miller, Board-Certified Neurologist, uses our cutting-edge MeRT® (Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy) treatment protocol. This protocol combines the technologies of TMS, Quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG), and Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) to analyze and formulate treatments tailored to each person’s unique brain pattern.
Using our MeRT treatment, we can gently stimulate the dysregulated areas of your brain to help you kick the habit!
Reasons to Quit Smoking
Here are some great reasons to quit smoking and finally rid yourself of the habit from Smokefree.gov.
Remind yourself of these health benefits and other advantages of being a non-smoker to help keep you on track with quitting as staying the course is another vital part of quitting for good.
After…
- 20 minutes: your heart rate and blood pressure drop.
- 12 hours: carbon monoxide in the bloodstream drops to normal.
- Two weeks to three months: circulation and lung function improve, and heart attack risk begins to drop.
- One to nine months: you cough less and breathe easier.
- One year: you cut the risk for coronary heart disease in half.
- Two to five years: the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder is cut in half; stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker.
- Ten years: you’re half as likely to die from lung cancer; your risk of kidney or pancreatic cancer decreases.
- Fifteen years: your risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a non-smoker.
Whenever you smoke a cigarette, toxins are carried to every organ in your body through the bloodstream. However, the body is an amazing thing! After you stop smoking, your body will begin its self-healing process within 20 minutes of your last cigarette!
Nicotine and other chemicals will be completely out of your body within three days. While you may feel worse before you feel better (as your body begins to repair itself), this is a sign that your body is healing.
Smoking Cessation and Withdrawals
Quitting smoking can be harder than any other addiction, including cocaine and opiate use. In a 2012 study, researchers reviewed 28 different studies of people who were trying to quit using their addictive substance. They found that about 18% quit drinking and over 40% quit opiates or cocaine, but only 8% could quit smoking cigarettes.
These are alarming statistics. Physical withdrawal symptoms can last anywhere from three to five days, but psychological withdrawal can take many months, which makes quitting even harder.
Symptoms of withdrawal (both physical and mental) can include:
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Feelings of anger, frustration, and impatience
- Trouble concentrating
- Dizziness
- Trouble sleeping, both falling and staying asleep
- Headaches
- Tiredness
- Chest tightness
- Constipation or gas
- Slower heart rate
- Weight gain
Some have experienced depression and anxiety after kicking the habit, along with brain fog and sleeping issues.
Fortunately, by going through MeRT treatment, ALL these issues will be addressed simultaneously, allowing an easier withdrawal period. Many research studies show how MeRT has been effective in treating these conditions, including addiction (smoking cessation).
Statistics
According to the CDC, approximately 34.1 million adults in the United States smoke, and 16 million are living with a smoke-related disease. While the numbers continue to decline (40% of the American public smoked in 1964), smoking is still the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. Smoking causes over 480,000 deaths per year — or one in five deaths.
Health issues caused by smoking can include:
- Higher risks for certain cancers
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Chronic bronchitis
- emphysema
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Lung diseases such as COPD or cancer
- High blood pressure
- Oral health issues
- Accelerated aging
- Vision problems like cataracts and macular degeneration
Call our New Patient Coordinator
for more information. Or fill out the form below.
This powerful drug reaches the brain within seconds and produces immediate feelings of pleasure or euphoria, among other stimulating effects, including increased levels of dopamine. Dopamine is associated with the pleasure and reward system of the brain. It releases feelings of enjoyment and motivates a person to repeat certain rewarding activities that are usually vital for the body to survive, such as reminding you to eat when you are hungry.
Nicotine
Between the inhalation of smoke and the estimated 69 chemicals in cigarettes, which are carcinogenic, smokers have a four times greater risk of contracting cancer than non-smokers. Approximately 30% of cancer deaths are from smoking.
Nicotine is an organic compound naturally found in the tobacco plant. Compounds, called alkaloids — composed of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen — make up the plant’s content. It is actually nature’s way of deterring animals from consuming the poison it produces.
In high concentrations, nicotine acts as a nerve poison and is often used in insecticides. However, in small amounts, nicotine is a stimulant that enhances brain activity and concentration and improves cognitive processing and memory.
When inhaled through a cigarette, the body rapidly absorbs nicotine into the lungs, and it enters the blood vessels in the tissue lining of the lungs. From these tiny blood vessels, the nicotine enters the bloodstream and travels directly to the brain.
What is MeRT?
MeRT stands for Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy.
This innovative treatment protocol combines technologies of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS, an FDA-cleared therapy for Depression and OCD), Quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG), and Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) to analyze and plan treatments tailored for your unique brain pattern.
MeRT is an emerging technology that is non-surgical, non-invasive, and non-pharmacological. In the simplest of terms, we use MeRT to reprogram abnormal electrical signals in the brain to ultimately modify behavior.
In more technical terms, MeRT uses a very individualized approach by obtaining a qEEG, a diagnostic study that measures the pattern of electrical signals in your brain. This study not only tells us what is not functioning properly but also helps us determine how the brain should be operating.
Once done, our scientific and clinical teams will carefully analyze the results and determine the current state and functioning of your brain. We use a patented, scientific approach with the data gathered through testing to develop a highly customized treatment plan aimed at encouraging healthy brain communication and function.
Treatment is as simple as you relaxing in a chair while our highly trained technician carefully positions a simple device on your head. This device produces a magnetic field to induce mild electrical currents in targeted regions of the brain to help stimulate and rebalance areas of your brain that are not communicating properly with the rest of your brain.
Call our New Patient Coordinator
for more information. Or fill out the form below.
Benefits of MeRT Therapy Include:
- Fewer cravings (such as smoking)
- Improved Sleep
- Increased Relaxation
- Better Concentration and Focus
- Improved Memory and Mental Clarity
- Decreased Pain
- Better Mood
- Increased Ability to Cope with Stress
- Increased attention span
- Improved sociability
- Increased motivation
- More clarity of thought
- Improved emotional stability
- Increased ability to adapt to change
- Improved self-confidence and self-esteem
Starting as a New Patient
When you start as a new patient at the Brain Treatment Center Dallas, you will initially need two appointments, approximately two days apart. Both appointments will be about an hour. These appointments will be used to determine if Dr. Miller feels you can truly benefit from the MeRT Program and, if so, to develop a tailored treatment plan based on your test results. After testing and consultation, you are not obliged to begin treatment. This is something that you will determine once you have seen your test results and consulted with Dr. Miller.
Initial Testing
At the first appointment, we will go over your reasons for seeking help, your medical history, your health goals, and all of your symptoms. You will then begin initial testing, which will involve an EEG and an EKG. These are both completely painless and easy and done right in our office. We then send your information and test results to our scientific and clinical teams, who will carefully analyze the results and determine the current state and functioning of the brain together with Dr. Miller.
We use a patented, scientific approach with the neurophysiological data gathered through testing to develop a highly customized treatment plan aimed at encouraging healthy brain communication and function.
Consultation
At your second appointment, you will meet with Dr. Miller for a Consultation. He will discuss your test results and whether he and our scientific team feel you may achieve results through our treatment protocol. This appointment will also serve to answer any additional questions you may have. After that second appointment, Dr. Miller will lay out your individualized treatment plan and the protocols to be followed for the best results. At that point, you may discuss fees, length of treatment, and schedules, and then decide whether to go forward and schedule your treatment.
Test Run – The Assessment
We deliver the MeRT protocol using TMS. You simply sit in a comfortable chair while a trained technician carefully positions a simple device on your head. This device produces a magnetic field to induce mild electrical currents in the targeted regions of the brain. There is no pain and no electrical currents, just a slight sensation.
We will perform an additional EEG and EKG after about a week of treatment, allowing us to assess progress and make any needed modifications. In this way, we are always taking the best and most exacting approach based on the current neurological state.
Insurance Coverage
Unfortunately, we do not accept insurance, nor file it on your behalf. However, we can provide you with CPT codes and a billing breakdown. You can submit these to your insurance for possible reimbursement for conditions that TMS has been FDA-cleared to treat, such as Major Depressive Disorder and OCD. On occasion, individuals have been successful in receiving reimbursement for EEGs and clinical evaluations, and possibly other elements for treatment, depending on the individual’s coverage. It has been our experience that Medicare does not reimburse any of the treatment costs.
Contact our New Patient Coordinator for More Information about MeRT
When many patients come to see us, they have lost hope, as they don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s rewarding as a practitioner to help so many people realize a much better “normal” and improved quality of life.
If you have questions or would like to discuss our treatment protocols, we offer a free consultation by phone.
Our New Patient Coordinator will take the time to listen and explain. She is able to answer most questions and discuss our protocols, scheduling, fees, and other information. She is happy to assist you in any way she can.
Please call us to get more information about how our clinic and Dr. Miller may help you with your health goals and to schedule an initial screening to see if MeRT may be an option.
Call our New Patient Coordinator
for more information. Or fill out the form below.
