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Tens of thousands of Dutch people with brain damage – due to a fall, for example – suffer from overstimulation, headaches or concentration problems for months or years. This can lead to ruined careers and lives, as shown in the recent book Brain Recovery in Utah.
It chronicles lives that turn into a nightmare overnight.
For example, 30-year-old Martine says after a fall while working with difficult young people that she has become ‘an elderly person’. She saw a range of care providers, was at home for six years and only recovered after self-paid treatment at ‘Cognitive FX’ (loosely translated as cognitive recovery) in the United States.
Eight in ten Dutch people benefit from the treatment, notes Eric Hermans, a retired medical sociologist and health scientist. He spoke to one hundred of the approximately seven hundred Dutch people who went to the clinic in Utah.
Fewer complaints
Neuroscientist Marsh Königs (Amsterdam UMC) examined 64 Dutch people from the same group. In a study funded by the Brain Foundation, he saw that 69 percent of patients had fewer complaints after treatment.
These are patients who are stranded in the Netherlands and paid for the treatment and stay in Utah themselves. Consider amounts of 12,000 euros and more.
Königs found that seven out of ten patients functioned better after treatment. They performed better on attention and memory tasks. They were also less anxious, depressed and tired, although they were not more active in school, study or work.
The improvements lasted for at least six months. What the situation is like after a year is beyond the scope of the study.
Statement for improvement
However, it is unclear what causes the improvement. Königs and other Dutch experts do not consider it likely that the theory behind the American treatment can explain the improvement.
The premise of the therapy is that the concussion has led to certain parts of the brain being used less due to reduced blood flow, which would cause other parts to become overstimulated.
By multitasking – doing a balance exercise, throwing a tennis ball and counting backwards – the brain would be so stimulated that all parts had to be used. In the Netherlands, the basic principle of treatment after a concussion is that, after a rest period of several weeks, physical and cognitive tasks should be taxed gradually.
Placebo-effect
“The improvements we have seen can be explained by a placebo effect,” says Königs. The high treatment costs and the use of a high-tech MRI scanner can reinforce this.
It may also play a role that patients appreciate that they are taken very seriously by practitioners who promise improvement with active treatment.
Königs: “But it may also be that the treatment contains components that actually contribute positively to recovery, such as physical activity. We now have to focus on finding effective treatment components.”
The treatment of Cognitive FX is not reimbursed by Dutch health insurers. The Brain Foundation’s research will not change that.
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2023-12-09 06:00:04
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