Hypnotherapy can help relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome: study

Washington DC: According to one study, hypnotherapy could help relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The results were published in the journal The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Hypnotherapy may help relieve symptoms of IBS in some patients up to 9 months after the end of treatment, according to a randomized controlled trial of 354 adults with IBS in primary and secondary care.

After 3 months of treatment, more patients (40%, 41/102 for which data was available) and hypnotherapy group (33%, 31/91) reported adequate relief of IBS symptoms compared with supportive care (17%, 6/35) and these benefits persisted at 9-month follow-up (42%) [38/91], 50 percent [40/80]and 22% [7/31]).

Importantly, the results suggest that group hypnotherapy is as effective as individual sessions, which could allow more IBS patients to be treated cheaply.

The study is the largest randomized trial of hypnotherapy for SIB to date and one of the first to be conducted in primary care, where the vast majority of IBS patients are treated.

The study found that IBS patients under hypnotherapy reported an overall improvement in their condition and better ability to cope with their symptoms, and that they were less disturbed by their symptoms compared to those receiving a educational support treatment. However, hypnotherapy does not seem to reduce the severity of symptoms.

"Our study indicates that hypnotherapy could be considered a treatment option for patients with IBS, regardless of the severity of the symptoms and the subtype of IBS," said Dr. Carla Flik of the Medical Center. University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, who led the research. "It is also promising to see that group hypnotherapy is as effective as individual sessions, which could mean that more people could be treated cheaply, should this be confirmed by new studies."

"What is striking with these results is the extent to which the patient's perception of their illness has an effect on their suffering and the fact that their perception of symptoms seems to be as important as the actual severity of symptoms." . "