Hypnotherapy in irritable bowel syndrome: a large-scale audit of a clinical service with examination of factors influencing responsiveness

Abstract

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.

Long-term improvement in functional dyspepsia using hypnotherapy

“…It is of interest that although HT has been shown to modify gastric acid secretion, 15 its effects on other parameters of gastric physiology have not yet been assessed, although studies of this nature are now underway in our laboratory. These results, taken in conjunction with those obtained for IBS, 10,[11][12][13][14]24,25 confirm the efficacy of HT in a group of functional disorders that are especially difficult to treat. They also warrant the evaluation of this form of treatment in other functional problems not necessarily confined to the gastrointestinal tract.…”

“…Quality-of-life (QOL) scores were assessed using a QOL instrument validated in affective disorder, 23 modified for use in functional bowel disorders 11 and subsequently used in a number of HT studies, in which it has proven to be sensitive to changes over time. 12,24,25 Patients' anxiety and depression levels were also assessed using the hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) scale 26 at the start and end of the treatment phase only. Furthermore, the economic impact of FD for the year preceding treatment and throughout the study was assessed by recording the number of consultations with a general practitioner or physician in the outpatient department, number of clinical procedures, work absences, and inpatient stays.…”

A course of instruction for women with irritable bowel syndrome

“…It is difficult to provide appropiate and credible control groups for alternative therapies. Instead, many studies prefer a longer follow-up to compensate for the absence of control group [23,24,46]. The placebo effect in IBS is high [47] and might be a risk also in this study.…”

Irritable bowel syndrome: the problem and the problem of treating it – is there a role for probiotics?

“…Consequently, there is considerable interest in understanding how this barrier is maintained coupled with the fact that there is experimental support for the notion that probiotic bacteria enhance barrier function (50,51) . We have shown in a number of studies that the prevalence of depression is not especially high in patients with IBS, although anxiety is a consistently common finding in this condition (52) . Therefore, it is noteworthy that the administration of probiotics has been shown to lead to a reduction in anxiety and depression behaviour in animals (53) , as well as reduced anxiety scores in human subjects (54,55) .…”