# specific physiological effects of hypnosis



## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

the following is from Dr. Simren and from his presentation at DDW. As he explained in his not to me he is working on a paper that will be published in the future and there is a lot of research currently underway by he and others on the specific physiological effects of hypnosis (over and above the psychological effects). I think its very encouraging and I'm posting it here for information only, not for glory - I don't want to start another bb war!tomHypnotherapy is an effective treatment for some IBS-related symptoms. The physiological mechanisms behind this are unclear....they randomized treatments and directly compared gut-directed HT to supportive therapy and found that Hypnotherapy reduces the lipid-induced colonic hypersensitivity in IBS. It also diminishes the colonic tone response. These effects may be involved in the clinical efficacy of hypnosis in IBS.


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## LML (Jul 17, 2001)

Thanks, Tom. Very interesting and very encouraging I'd say. I'll be most interested in seeing the full report in due course.


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## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

Thanks, Tom.







JeanG


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

DDW 2002 fyi"Psychologic StrategiesThe value of psychologic therapies for IBS is generally thought to be positive, although methodologic limitations have often inhibited interpretation of the clinical trials.[37]Hypnotherapeutic options. Hypnotherapy has been shown in randomized studies to improve IBS symptoms.[37] Simren and associates[38] evaluated 26 patients with refractory IBS; 13 were randomized to receive gut-directed hypnotherapy and 13 to receive supportive therapy. Colonic sensory thresholds were evaluated before and after lipid infusion. The study authors found that there were higher colonic baseline tones present in the hypnotherapy group compared with the control group at 3 months. Phasic motor events were similar in both groups, but hypnotherapy appeared to reduce colonic hypersensitivity to lipid infusion. Presumably, hypnotherapy alters colonic function via central mechanisms, but this remains to be ascertained. Gonsalkorale and colleagues[39] followed up with 239 patients who had undergone gut-directed hypnotherapy between 1 and 5 years previously. They found that 83% of patients reported that their symptoms had remained controlled since the end of hypnotherapy, and that only 17% had suffered some deterioration. Quality of life also remained improved, but these observations were uncontrolled. Therefore, gut-directed hypnotherapy should be considered an option for patients who have persistent symptoms despite standard therapy and who do not have significant psychologic comorbidity.Behavioral therapy. In another study, Darnley and colleagues[40] compared the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with mebeverine in primary care patients with IBS. These investigators showed that CBT was superior at both 12 weeks posttreatment and at subsequent 3-month follow-up.Self-management. Heitkemper and associates[41] evaluated women who were randomized to either (1) a self-management program (which comprised 8 standardized sessions with a masters-prepared nurse therapist covering the topics of stress management, relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and diet), (2) a 1-time brief self-management session, and (3) usual care. The full self-management program was superior to usual care, with reductions in pain, bloating, and constipation observed. It is interesting to note that women who received only the brief intervention program also significantly improved compared with usual care, implying that such a simple approach in physician practice may be applied effectively without the need for more costly intervention programs. The addition of standard CBT should be considered for IBS patients who fail to improve after usual treatment, although the cost benefit of this approach remains to be established.ConclusionsSeveral new and promising approaches for treatment of IBS are currently undergoing exploration. Additional work regarding anti-inflammatory strategies is warranted, despite disappointing results achieved with the prednisolone trial. Serotonin receptor agonists and antagonists appear to be efficacious in subgroups of IBS patients, but further work is needed to address how best to optimally target treatment in practice. Results of therapy with SSRIs appear disappointing, but it is too early to dismiss this class of agents.It must be emphasized that a simple but comprehensive nonpharmacologic management program is most likely to succeed in practice in terms of achieving the best outcomes in IBS. Drugs should generally remain second-line in IBS until agents with better efficacy and established safety profiles become available." http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/434526 FYIAm J Gastroenterol 2002 Apr;97 4:954-61 Hypnotherapy in irritable bowel syndrome: a large-scale audit of a clinical service with examination of factors influencing responsiveness. Gonsalkorale WM, Houghton LA, Whorwell PJ. Department of Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, United Kingdom. OBJECTIVES: Hypnotherapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome in a number of previous research studies. This has led to the establishment of the first unit in the United Kingdom staffed by six therapists that provides this treatment as a clinical service. This study presents an audit on the first 250 unselected patients treated, and these large numbers have also allowed analysis of data in terms of a variety of other factors, such as gender and bowel habit type, that might affect outcome. METHODS: Patients underwent 12 sessions of hypnotherapy over a 3-month period and were required to practice techniques in between sessions. At the beginning and end of the course of treatment, patients completed questionnaires to score bowel and extracolonic symptoms, quality of life, and anxiety and depression, allowing comparisons to be made. RESULTS: Marked improvement was seen in all symptom measures, quality of life, and anxiety and depression all ps < 0.001, in keeping with previous studies. All subgroups of patients appeared to do equally well, with the notable exception of males with diarrhea, who improved far less than other patients p < 0.001. No factors, such as anxiety and depression or other prehypnotherapy variables, could explain this lack of improvement. CONCLUSIONS: This study clearly demonstrates that hypnotherapy remains an extremely effective treatment for irritable bowel syndrome and should prove more cost-effective as new, more expensive drugs come on to the market. It may be less useful in males with diarrhea-predominant bowel habit, a finding that may have pathophysiological implications. PMID: 12003432


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Some info on Hypnotherapy and pain. http://www.technews.vt.edu/Archives/1996/Aug/96253.html


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