Research In IBS Using Hypnotherapy

FYI:Research In IBS Using Hypnotherapy AIMS: The purposes of this study were to quantify the effects of severe irritable bowelsyndrome on quality of life and economic functioning, and to assess the impact of hypnotherapyon these features. METHODS: A validated quality of life questionnaire including questions on symptoms,employment and health seeking behaviour was administered to 25 patients treated withhypnotherapy (aged 25-55 years; four male) and to 25 control irritable bowel syndrome patientsof comparable severity (aged 21-58 years; two male). Visual analogue scales were used andscores derived to assess the patients' symptoms and satisfaction with each aspect of life. RESULTS: Patients treated with hypnotherapy reported less severe abdominal pain (P <0.0001), bloating (P < 0.02), bowel habit (P < 0.0001), nausea (P < 0.05), flatulence (P < 0.05),urinary symptoms (P < 0.01), lethargy (P < 0.01), backache (P = 0.05) and dyspareunia (P =0.05) compared with control patients. Quality of life, such as psychic well being (P < 0.0001),mood (P < 0.001), locus of control (P < 0.05), physical well being (P < 0.001) and work attitude(P < 0.001) were also favourably influenced by hypnotherapy. For those patients in employment,more of the controls were likely to take time off work (79% vs. 32%; P = 0.02) and visit theirgeneral practitioner ( 58% vs. 21%; P = 0.056) than those treated with hypnotherapy. Three offour hypnotherapy patients out of work prior to treatment resumed employment compared withnone of the six in the control group. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that in addition to relieving the symptoms of irritablebowel syndrome, hypnotherapy profoundly improves the patients' quality of life and reducesabsenteeism from work. It therefore appears that, despite being relatively expensive to provide,it could well be a good long-term investment. ------------------ http://www.ibshealth.com/