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The first trial (study one) was conducted at a university hospital, which specializes in functional GI disorders while the second study (study two) was conducted at a local hospital. In both studies, patients received gut-directed hypnotherapy for one hour per week for 12 weeks with follow-up questionnaires on quality of life, anxiety and depression and GI symptoms after the treatment period and again after six and/or 12 months of treatment. Gut-directed hypnotherapy involves techniques such as deep relaxation with gut-specific treatments and suggestions (e.g. visualizing a fully functioning digestive tract).

In a large proportion of patients in both studies, a clinically significant improvement in the gastrointestinal symptom burden could be seen after hypnotherapy an improvement that was clearly superior to the patients in the control group. After one year, the improvement for both groups was sustained, and in some cases, enhanced. In addition, the hypnotherapy patients in study two reported an improvement in anxiety and depression. Overall, both hypnotherapy groups reported significant improvements in GI symptoms including abdominal pain, distention and bloating in comparison to the control groups.

"The use of hypnotherapy is an exciting new option in treating IBS," said Magnus Simren, M.D., Sahlgrenska University Hospital and study co-author. "More studies should be conducted to adapt hypnotherapy techniques from highly specialized settings to standard clinical practices that can be regularly available to IBS patients."

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Contact: Aimee Frank
newsroom@gastro.org
301-941-2620
American Gastroenterological Association
24-May-2006