Amen Clinics
{{Short description|Group of health clinics}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Amen Clinics
| logo = Amen_Clinics_logo.png
| type =
| industry =
| founded = {{start date|1989}}
| founder = Daniel G. Amen
| hq_location =
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country = United States
| area_served = Newport Beach, California, San Francisco, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Reston, Virginia, Bellevue, Washington, New York City
| key_people =
| products =
| brands =
| services =
| owner =
| website = {{URL|http://www.amenclinics.com/}}
}}
Amen Clinics is a group of mental and physical health clinics that work on the treatment of mood and behavior disorders. It was founded in 1989 by Daniel G. Amen, a self-help author and psychiatrist.{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70056-5|title=Neuropolitics gone mad|year=2008|author=James Butcher|journal=The Lancet Neurology|volume=7|issue=4|pages=295|s2cid=54411790}}{{cite web |url=http://www2.mbc.ca.gov/LicenseLookupSystem/PhysicianSurgeon/Lookup.aspx?licenseType=G&licenseNumber=51434 |title=License Information |publisher=Medical Board of California |access-date=November 7, 2012}} The clinics perform clinical evaluations and brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging to diagnose and treat their patients.{{cite web |url=http://cornwallfreenews.com/2012/10/the-seniors-situation-room-edition-5-by-dawn-ford/ |title=The Seniors' Situation Room Edition 5 by Dawn Ford |author=Dawn Ford |date=October 9, 2012 |publisher=Cornwall Free News |access-date=November 7, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://neighbornewspapers.com/view/full_story/20538143/article-Brain-expert-speaks-in-Buckhead--opens-Sandy-Springs-clinic?instance=all |title=Brain expert speaks in Buckhead, opens Sandy Springs clinic |author=Everett Catts |date=October 18, 2012 |publisher=Neighbor Newspapers |access-date=November 7, 2012}} Amen Clinics uses SPECT scans, a type of brain-imaging technology, to measure neural activity through blood flow.{{cite journal|title=Brain SPECT Imaging in Complex Psychiatric Cases: An Evidence-Based, Underutilized Tool|author=Daniel G Amen|author2=Manuel Trujillo|author3=Barry Chaitin|journal=Open Neuroimaging Journal|pmc=3149839|pmid=21863144|doi=10.2174/1874440001105010040|volume=5|year=2011|pages=40–8}} It has a database of more than 100,000 functional brain scans from patients in 111 countries, and several locations throughout the United States.{{cite web|url=http://brainworldmagazine.com/amen-clinics-brain-spect-imaging/|title=Amen Clinics & Brain Spect Imaging|publisher=Brain World Magazine|date=October 25, 2012|access-date=October 9, 2013}} The American Psychiatric Association has criticized the clinical appropriateness of Amen's use of brain scans, and in 2006 published a statement saying that "the clinical utility of neuroimaging techniques for planning of individualized treatment has not yet been shown".
Operations
Amen Clinics was founded in 1989. It has been using brain SPECT in an attempt to diagnose and treat psychiatric illness since 1991.{{cite news | title = Change Your Brain, Change Your Body | author = Daniel G. Amen | work = The Huffington Post | date = 26 April 2010 | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-amen-md/change-your-brain-change_b_474293.html | access-date= 3 February 2015}} Amen Clinics incorporates questionnaires, clinical histories, and clinical interviews in its practice.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-06/mf_neurohacks?currentPage=all |title=Brain Scans as Mind Readers? Don't Believe the Hype |author=Daniel Carlat |date=May 19, 2008 |magazine=Wired |access-date=November 7, 2012}}{{cite web | title = Can Daniel Amen Read Your Mind? | author = Eliza Shapiro | website = The Daily Beast | date = 14 December 2012| url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/14/can-daniel-amen-read-your-mind.html |access-date= 3 February 2015}} Some Amen Clinics locations also use quantitative electroencephalography as a diagnostic tool.{{cite web |title = Shawn Ladd's Excellent Amen Clinics Adventure – Part I | author = Zoë Kessler | publisher=Psych Central | year = 2014 | url = http://blogs.psychcentral.com/adhd-zoe/2014/06/shawn-ladds-excellent-amen-clinics-adventure-part-i/ | access-date = 3 February 2015}} Amen Clinics has scanned 50,000 people, at an estimated cost of $170 million, according to Daniel Amen.{{Cite journal | last1 = Chancellor | first1 = B. | last2 = Chatterjee | first2 = A. | doi = 10.1080/21507740.2011.611123 | title = Brain Branding: When Neuroscience and Commerce Collide | journal = AJOB Neuroscience | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | pages = 18–27 | year = 2011 | s2cid = 17157310 | url = https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=neuroethics_pubs }}
As of 2014, Amen Clinics had a database of more than 100,000 functional brain scans.{{cite web | url = http://www.molecularimaging.net/topics/molecular-imaging/neuroimaging/new-spect-database-holds-100k-scans-psychiatric-study | title = New SPECT database holds 100K scans for psychiatric study | author = Kathy Mahdoubi | publisher = Molecular Imaging | date = 13 October 2014 |access-date=19 February 2015}} The subjects are from 111 countries with ages from 9 months to 101 years old. The database was funded in part by Seeds Foundation in Hong Kong, and developed by Daniel Amen with a team of researchers including Kristen Willeumier. Amen Clinics has treated numerous former athletes, including NFL players.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighsteinberg/2013/03/09/death-of-the-nfl-part-2/ | title = Death of the NFL: Part 2 | author = Leigh Steinberg | magazine = Forbes | date = 3 September 2013 | access-date = 19 February 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-concussions-lawsuits-aim-to-improve-the-damaged-brain/2012/06/07/gJQA9egaLV_story.html | title = NFL concussions lawsuits aim to improve the damaged brain | author = Rick Maese | newspaper =The Washington Post | date = 7 June 2012 | access-date = 19 February 2015}} Some researchers and physicians have said that evidence for the efficacy of the methods in which the clinic uses SPECT is unclear or absent.{{cite journal |last1=Adinoff |first1=Bryon |last2=Devous |first2=Michael |date=1 Sep 2010 |title=Response to Amen Letter |url=https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10050671r |journal=The American Journal of Psychiatry |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |volume=167 |issue=9 |doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10050671|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/spect-scans-at-the-amen-clinic-a-new-phrenology/|title=SPECT Scans at the Amen Clinic – A New Phrenology?|last=Hall|first=Harriet|date=8 April 2008|publisher=Science-Based Medicine|access-date=3 October 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.quackwatch.org/06ResearchProjects/amen.html|title=A Skeptical View of SPECT Scans and Dr. Daniel Amen|author=Harriet Hall, M.D.|date=15 November 2007|access-date=3 October 2013}}{{cite book|author=American Psychiatric Association|title=American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Compendium 2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zql0AqtRSrYC&pg=PA44|year=2006|publisher=American Psychiatric Pub|isbn=978-0-89042-385-1|page=44}}
Ethics
{{excerpt|Daniel G. Amen|Ethics of SPECT scanning}}
References
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