Outcomes and Case Studies		Preparation & Outcome Enhancement
Abstracts and Publications		Upcoming Lectures
Frequently Asked Questions		Contacting Us
Policies of AMRI of NW Ohio		MME Home Page
Messages from Dr. Roberts		Heartfixer Welcome Page
		Reverse Heart Disease Now Home Page

No Longer Available

Magnetic Molecular Energizer (MME) 

FACT SHEET

What is MME?

MME stands for Magnetic Molecular Energizer Therapy, a novel, non-invasive, research treatment modality that involves the application of a high energy (3,000-5,000 Gauss) negatively oriented magnetic field to a diseased or dysfunctional organ system or body region.  The MME device, in use in the US since 1997, consists of two large electromagnets and a DC power converter, with the patient positioned in the focal point between the two electromagnets. AMRI of NW Ohio is the 6th American MME facility, and is providing MME to its patients under the auspices of an Institutional Review Board (IRB).

How does MME work  - at the Molecular level?          

Your spouse or significant other may make the Earth move under your feet, and we can't do that, but with MME we can accelerate your electron spin.  The inventor of MME, Dr. Dean Bonlie, stayed awake during high school science, and as a research clinician, discovered a therapeutic solution to the Larmor formula.  Recall that the enzymes, DNA, and other structures within your cells are composed of molecules, which in turn are made up of atoms, which in turn are comprised of a dense nucleus, made up of protons and neutrons, about which electrons orbit in various layers, termed orbitals.  Molecular reactions are triggered when the valence electrons, the outer orbital electrons, of one atom collide with and then combine with the valence electrons of another atom.  Two Hydrogen atoms don't just stick to one Oxygen to produce H₂O; it is their valence electrons that collide and bind together.  The more rapidly the valence electrons orbit around the nucleus of an atom, the more likely they are to collide with and bind to valence electrons orbiting the nucleus of other atoms, the more likely is the given atom to participate in molecular reactions.  If the valence electrons of many atoms within a cell are spinning more rapidly, molecular, and then biochemical, reactions are more likely to occur within that cell.  Energy producing reactions will speed up, and the cell can use this energy to rebuild itself or to carry out biochemical work. 

Larmor formula:  w_L = e B / 2 m   

Now back to the Larmor formula.  You don't need to fully understand this equation, but do note that  w_L refers to the velocity of electron spin, something that we want to increase, and B refers to the magnetic field in which the electron exists.  During MME, B, the magnetic field in which the electron exists, is increased, leading to, in the valence electrons moving in the same direction as is the magnetic field, an exponential increase in their orbital velocity.  Some of these electrons will be bumped into a higher energy state.  This increase in velocity of some, but not all (those orbiting in the direction opposite to that of the magnetic field will not speed up) of the valence electrons leads to a phenomena called wobble, which also increases the energy available for chemical reactions.  Remember, electron transfer is the basis for all useful chemical reactions in the body, and electron transfer is increased during MME.

How does MME work  - at the Biological level?

Think of MME as an energy catalyst that speeds up useful chemical reactions in your body.  The energy in sunlight is used by plants to generate chemical energy.  The MME magnetic field spins your electrons and this electron spin is captured to generate chemical energy.  Biological functions within the body region or organ system that is within the MME focal point may speed up or be enhanced, such as oxygen carrying capacity, the exchange of nutrients for wastes and their correct assimilation, the manufacture and function of enzymes, tissue regeneration, and most importantly, healing.  The rate of healing can be accelerated beyond that typical of the human body.  For example, a bone fracture that typically requires 6-8 weeks to heal may require only a few days with MME treatment (giving my kids' sports teams an incredible and totally unfair advantage over their competition).  Neurons in tissue culture sprout more rapidly under the influence of a negative magnetic field; it is felt that MME increases the division rate of our in-place, organ-specific, stem cells.

Suitable Candidates for MME

Our IRB permits us to research treat individuals with Neurological, Orthopedic, and Cardiovascular disease states, as well as to address liver dysfunction and pain in any location.  AMRI of NW Ohio is located within a Cardiology practice, Comprehensive Heart Care, as a sister therapy to EECP, which we have relied on over the past 13 years to treat over 1000 patients with recurrent, inoperable, or treatment refractory coronary disease.  Our focus at AMRI of NW Ohio will be to research the use of MME in advanced heart disease.  We will not just treat you with MME; rather we will treat you with MME placed on a foundation of nutritional, and as needed, pharmacologic measures.  Dr. Roberts has been practicing Cardiology for 23 years, and his knowledge and experience will be applied to your condition.  We are interested in, and basically insist on, taking a comprehensive approach - this is the pathway to good treatment outcomes in any area of medicine.  If you have a non-Cardiovascular condition that is likely to respond to MME, especially if you live in our area, we can and will treat you to the best of our ability.  Here we will need the records of the other physicians who have examined you, and we may ask your permission to obtain input from other practitioners or other MME providers (why not draw on the experience of others).  If you are from out of town and your primary problem is Orthopedic, Neurological, or Gastrointestinal, you might want to consider receiving MME at a center staffed by practitioners of those disciplines.  We do not claim expertise in non-Cardiovascular disease states.

Conditions Research Treatable with MME

Conditions that have been treated with MME are outlined below; in blue are the conditions that we at AMRI of NW Ohio have treated with MME.  We have decided to focus our  efforts on the use of MME in individuals with Cardiovascular Disease - this is where MME works best and this is where we can help people the most.  Remember, we consider MME to be a research therapy - just because MME has helped one or more patients with a given problem doesn't mean that you will necessarily respond in the same manner. 

Description of the MME Procedure

During treatment, you recline on a padded table, with the body region of interest within the focal point between the magnets.  You may read, sleep, converse with others, or watch TV or DVDs (we are equipped with cable so you can watch the Detroit Pistons win the Central Division) during MME.  Some patients may feel a warmth or tingle over the region being treated.  Most patients feel nothing and MME is not associated with any treatment related discomfort.

Duration of MME Exposure

If balloon angioplasty is a sprint, think of MME as a marathon.  It takes time for MME accelerated electron spin to evolve into tissue healing or a resolution of angina, and as you are going to pay for this treatment out-of-pocket, we're probably going to be treating you for a condition that cannot be treated, or treated safely, by other means.  To date, our angina patients have required 100-150 hours; patients with advanced heart failure or cardiomyopathy will more likely require 150-250 hours.  Spinal cord injury patients will be looking at 300-600 hours.  MME is a huge time and resource commitment on your part, and we want you to consider this commitment carefully - MME does not provide a quick fix to complicated problem.  Please click Treatment Hours to view a chart that gives the average number of MME hours utilized in the commonly treated conditions.

Risks to the patient

As MME is not FDA approved, we are not permitted to state that MME therapy is either effective or safe.  However, we have not observed side-effects, related to MME, in the patients who we have treated, and the published literature does not describe adverse effects of static magnetic field therapy in humans.  In many conditions we combine metal detoxification therapy with MME, and with this combination therapy patients may experience  malaise, fatigue, and muscle pain, which we feel relates to egress of toxins (often termed a "detox" or "Herxheimer" reaction).  These symptoms resolve with discontinuation of the metal binder (or often with a decrease in dose).   Patient selection is important, in that MME would not be safe in individuals who bear implanted devices with moving electrical parts (pacemaker, defibrillator, or cochlear ear implant).  Other physician implanted metals are by law non-magnetic, and do not pose a safety risk (metal staples, vascular stents, artificial joints).  Non-medical metal bodies could be magnetic, and thus "pulled on" by the MME-induced magnetic field (shrapnel near a vital organ or foreign body in the eye).  If concern exists, a plain X-ray can be done to clear you for MME.  There is a risk that you will spend a good deal of time and money on MME and then not get the desired result.  Remember, as we do, that MME is an experimental therapy, and at this point no one can guarantee you a good result (just as I cannot guarantee that you could not have a complication from a heart catheterization, or that a specific drug will work, or that all you bypass grafts will stay open following bypass surgery, etc.). 

Regulatory Status

MME is not FDA approved.  This does not mean that MME is unsafe.  It means that we have not proven to the FDA that MME is an effective technique.  MME is being provided in the US under the auspices of an Institutional Review Board (IRB).  The IRB monitors the safety of MME as it is applied in the US.  If one of our patients experiences an unexpected adverse outcome or anything that remotely looks like a complication of MME, it is our responsibility to report this to the IRB.  As more MME outcome data is collected, especially outcomes of the randomized, multicenter, sham-MME controlled, double-blind studies of MME that we have planned, then application will be made for FDA approval.  Until then, this MME facility, your insurer, and you, the patient, must consider MME as an experimental treatment modality.

Costs to the Patient

MME has the potential to help individuals with serious problems that cannot be addressed, or addressed safely, with our prior best methods.  That is why we brought MME into our practice, and that is why, to many individuals, the benefits of MME are priceless.  Still, you have to pay for it, and you have to pay for it yourself.  The cost of MME is $35 per hour.  EECP, our other unique therapy for inoperable heart disease, is FDA approved, and is covered by Medicare and nearly all insurers.  MME is not FDA approved and is an experimental therapy.  As such, it is not the policy of Medicare, or of any other insurer that we are aware of, to cover the cost of MME.  We will not bill your insurer.  You can turn in your bill from MME to your insurer, but no matter your outcome, please understand that it is unlikely that they will reimburse you.  Our financial policy is discussed in more detail on a separate page (in Frequently Asked Questions section).

AMRI of NW Ohio provides MME treatment under the guidelines of an Investigational Review Board, consistent with FDA regulations.

 Please note that MME treatment is considered to be experimental by the FDA. Although many patients have improved, no guarantee of success is implied.