Treatment of non-cardiac chest pain: a controlled trial of hypnotherapy
AUTHOR(S): Jones, H., Cooper, P., Miller, V., Brooks, N., Whorwell, P.
DATE: April, 2006
DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial
SUBJECTS: 28 patients with non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP)
OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of hypnotherapy in a selected group of patients with angina-like chest pain in whom coronary angiography was normal and oesophageal reflux was not contributory.
INTERVENTIONS: 1. Hypnosis group (n=15): 12 sessions of hypnotherapy or 2. Control group (n=13): supportive therapy plus placebo medication - over a seventeen week period.
RESULTS: 12 (80%) hypnotherapy patients versus 3 (23%) controls experienced a global improvement in pain which was associated with a significantly greater reduction in pain intensity although not frequency. Hypnotherapy also resulted in a significantly greater improvement in overall wellbeing in addition to a reduction in medication usage. There were no differences favouring hypnotherapy with respect to anxiety or depression scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Hypnotherapy appears to have utility in this highly selected group of NCCP patients and warrants further assessment in the broader context of this disorder.
SOURCE: Gut.
Hypnotherapy cuts ‘heart pain’
Daily Express, Thursday 20th April 2006, p28 col. 2
People who suffer severe heart pain not caused by heart problems could have their symptoms eased with hypnotherapy.
Until now, doctors haven’t known what causes the pain in people with normal heart function
But a new study suggests that hypnotherapy could soothe the part of the brain where the pain emotion is processed
Around one in three with chest pain have no apparent cause.
But most are concerned that it is an undetected heart problem that they continue to take anti-angina medication. But the symptoms can prove stressful and are hard to treat.
Now a study in the BMJ journal Gut suggests that they could be helped by hypnotherapy.
Researchers at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, studied 28 patients with these symptoms. Of the 15 given hypnotherapy 80 per cent said they felt better.
In hypnotherapy a patient is hypnotised into altered consciousness. The therapist then talks to them about deeper problems which the patient may not be aware of. Overcoming these mental stresses can help alleviate physical symptoms.
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