Hypnotherapy 'can help' irritable bowel syndrome. (IBS)
03/18/2010
Irritable
bowel syndrome (IBS) causes abdominal pain and bloating. Greater use of hypnotherapy to ease the symptoms of irritable bowel
syndrome would help sufferers and might save money, says a gastroenterologist. Dr Roland Valori, editor of Frontline Gastroenterology,
said of the first 100 of his patients treated, symptoms improved significantly for nine in 10. He said that although previous
research has shown hypnotherapy is effective for IBS sufferers, it is not widely used. This may be because doctors simply
do not believe it works.
Widely ignored.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common
gut problem, which can cause abdominal pain, bloating and sometimes diarrhea or constipation. Dr Valori, of Gloucestershire
Royal Hospital, said the research evidence, which shows that hypnotherapy could help sufferers of IBS, was first published
in the 1980s. He thinks it has been widely ignored because many doctors find it hard to believe that it does work, or to comprehend
how it could work.
Dr Roland Valori, is the editor of Frontline
Gastroenterology. He began referring IBS patients for hypnotherapy in the early 1990s and has found it to be highly effective.
"To be frank, I have never looked back," he said. He audited the first 100 cases he referred for hypnotherapy
and found that the symptoms stopped completely in four in ten cases with typical IBS. He says in a further five in 10 cases
patients reported feeling more in control of their symptoms and were therefore much less troubled by them. "It
is pretty clear to me that it has an amazing effect," he said. "It seems to work particularly well on younger
female patients with typical symptoms, and those who have only had IBS for a relatively short time."
Powerful effect.
He believes that it could work partly by helping
to relax patients. "Of the relaxation therapies available, hypnotherapy is the most powerful," he said.
He also says that IBS patients often face difficult situations in their lives, and hypnotherapy can help them respond to these
stresses in a less harmful way. NHS guidelines allow doctors to refer IBS patients for hypnotherapy or other psychological
therapies if medication is unsuccessful and the problem persists. Dr Valori thinks that if hypnotherapy were used more widely
it could possibly save the NHS money while improving patient care.
Dr Charlie Murray, Secretary
of the British Gastroenterology Society, said: "There
is no doubt that hypnotherapy is helpful for some patients, but it depends on the skill and experience of those practicing
it. But the degree to which it is effective is not well defined. "I would support using it as one therapy, but it is
no panacea."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8572818.stm
