What if you could use your brain to play better golf?
I have an interesting quote from a professional golfer. During our first session he asked this question, " What is the longest shot in golf?" The answer of course, "The six inches between your ears!"
So that means that hypnosis is the perfect way to improve your golf game! Read on for some more interesting information:
Can Hypnosis Help Your Golf Swing?Featured KTNV Video
Posted: July 29, 2008 11:28 PM CDT
The pros say golf is 80% mental, so why is everyone rushing to their trainers to work on their swing?
One local hypnotist told Action News anchor Nina Radetich that the answer is to train the brain.
It is a sport that requires serious concentration and causes equal amounts of frustration.
"I am inadequate, I do not know what I am doing and I will never get better. I hate this game you know all those things that I am sure every golfer has said once or twice," said new golfer Joanna Schwartz.
She just started taking lessons at Callaway Golf, but she is not perfecting her putt and drive.
"The majority of the time I spend with them is based on the mental the relaxation. The main thing is I want to not be frustrated during a typical game," said Joanna.
Hypnotist Thom Kaz is a personal trainer for the brain.
"Hypnosis is simply getting the critical factor of the concious mind out of the way the guard dog and letting the good ideas come in from the subconcious and be accepted not rejected," said Thom.
Thom teaches his clients how to get to their most relaxed state, so they know what it takes to get there on the course.
"What they think about what they feel are all part of the mental strategies that are going to give them the most of whatever their abilities are. People talk about getting in the zone but if you have never been to the zone you do not know what that is," said Thom.
Peak performance, Thom says, is all about visualization.
Golf coaches say working on the mental side of the game probably works best for pro golfer, but it is not the first step they would recommend for beginners.
"It just depends on how competitive you want to be with it. I do not think you need to think about the mental side if you are just out for fun you do not worry about it," said UNLV Assitant Golf Coach Andy Bischel.
But if you want to move to the next level, it is important to focus on what is in your head.
"If you cannot think right when you are on a golf course you cannot swing right. Everything starts with your thought process," said Andy.
"At some point you have to acknowledge that a lot of what is happening in the six inches between your ears is what is making the difference," said Thom.
Joanna is thinking she wants to have a good time, maybe with the bonus of a lower score.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
What else??
Do you know all the things for which hypnosis can be used? The list is quite lengthy! Let me just make the statement that hypnosis can be used to help you change habits that no longer meet your needs... and that is just the start of the list. Besides the standard weight reduction, and stop smoking, I have used hypnosis to help people lead the abundant, successful lives that they have always wanted. I lead a monthly class that has assisted many in the Nashville area to live the life of their dreams.
An area where hypnosis is fabulously successful is addiction recovery. For the many who find 12-step programs ineffective or who have concerns about confidentiality or simply do not have the time nor the money to go into residential rehab, hypnosis is the perfect alternative.
I will be reposting articles to the blog that inform about all the alternative uses for hypnosis. Be sure to go to my web page to find out how you can lead the life of your dreams.
Here is an article that is sure to be of interest:
Hypnosis Shown To Reduce Symptoms Of Dementia
ScienceDaily (July 29, 2008) — A scientist at the University of Liverpool has found that hypnosis can slow down the impacts of dementia and improve quality of life for those living with the condition.
Forensic psychologist, Dr Simon Duff, investigated the effects of hypnosis on people living with dementia and compared the treatment to mainstream health-care methods. He also looked at how hypnosis compared to a type of group therapy in which participants were encouraged to discuss news and current affairs.
They found that people living with dementia who had received hypnosis therapy showed an improvement in concentration, memory and socialisation compared to the other two treatment groups. Relaxation, motivation and daily living activities also improved with the use of hypnosis.
Dr Duff said: “Over a nine month period of weekly sessions, it became clear that the participants attending the discussion group remained the same throughout.
Dr Duff said: “Over a nine month period of weekly sessions, it became clear that the participants attending the discussion group remained the same throughout.
The group who received ‘treatment as usual’ showed a small decline over the assessment period, yet those having regular hypnosis sessions showed real improvement across all of the areas that we looked at.
“Participants who are aware of the onset of dementia may become depressed and anxious at their gradual loss of cognitive ability and so hypnosis – which is a tool for relaxation – can really help the mind concentrate on positive activity like socialisation.”
Further research will now take place to establish whether hypnosis maintains its effects on dementia as the illness progresses, over longer periods of time.
Dr Dan Nightingale, co-author of the research and leading dementia consultant at the Abacus Clinic in Newark, added: “Evidence to date has shown that we can enhance the quality of life for people living with dementia through the correct use of hypnosis. We have now developed a course for clinicians who wish to incorporate hypnosis into health care plans.”
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Meditation, Yoga Might Switch Off Stress Genes
Since Hypnosis is an advanced form of Meditation this is VERY good news. Check out the products page for some great meditation audios...
Study suggests explanation for these practices' health benefits
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've taken a significant stride forward in understanding how relaxation techniques such as meditation, prayer and yoga improve health: by changing patterns of gene activity that affect how the body responds to stress.
The changes were seen both in long-term practitioners and in newer recruits, the scientists said.
"It's not all in your head," said Dr. Herbert Benson, president emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "What we have found is that when you evoke the relaxation response, the very genes that are turned on or off by stress are turned the other way. The mind can actively turn on and turn off genes. The mind is not separated from the body."
One outside expert agreed. "It's sort of like reverse thinking: If you can wreak havoc on yourself with lifestyle choices, for example, [in a way that] causes expression of latent genetic manifestations in the negative, then the reverse should hold true," said Dr. Gerry Leisman, director of the F.R. Carrick Institute for Clinical Ergonomics, Rehabilitation and Applied Neuroscience at Leeds Metropolitan University in the U.K.
"Biology is not entirely our destiny, so while there are things that give us risk factors, there's a lot of 'wiggle' in this," added Leisman, who is also a professor at the University of Haifa in Israel. "This paper is pointing that there is a technique that allows us to play with the wiggle."
Benson, a pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, is co-senior author of the new study, which is published in the journal PLoS One.
Benson first described the relaxation response 35 years ago. Mind-body approaches that elicit the response include meditation, repetitive prayer, yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, guided imagery and Qi Gong.
"Previously, we had noted that there were scores of diseases that could be treated by eliciting the relaxation response -- everything from different kinds of pain, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis, insomnia," Benson said.
He believes that this study is the first comprehensive look at how mind states can affect gene expression. It also focuses on gene activity in healthy individuals.
Benson and his colleagues compared gene-expression patterns in 19 long-term practitioners, 19 healthy controls and 20 newcomers who underwent eight weeks of relaxation-response training.
More than 2,200 genes were activated differently in the long-time practitioners relative to the controls and 1,561 genes in the short-timers compared to the long-time practitioners. Some 433 of the differently activated genes were shared among short-term and long-term practitioners.
Further genetic analysis revealed changes in cellular metabolism, response to oxidative stress and other processes in both short- and long-term practitioners. All of these processes may contribute to cellular damage stemming from chronic stress.
Another expert had a mixed response to the findings.Robert Schwartz, director of the Texas A&M Health Science Center's Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston, noted that the study was relatively small. He also wished that there had been more data on the levels of stress hormones within the control group, for comparison purposes.
However, Schwartz called the study "unique and very exciting. It demonstrates that all these techniques of relaxation response have a biofeedback mechanism that alters gene expression."
He pointed out that the researchers looked at blood cells, which consist largely of immune cells. "You're getting the response most probably in the immune cell population," Schwartz said.
"We all are under stress and have many manifestations of that stress," Benson added. "To adequately protect ourselves against stress, we should use an approach and a technique that we believe evokes the relaxation response 20 minutes, once a day."
Study suggests explanation for these practices' health benefits
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've taken a significant stride forward in understanding how relaxation techniques such as meditation, prayer and yoga improve health: by changing patterns of gene activity that affect how the body responds to stress.
The changes were seen both in long-term practitioners and in newer recruits, the scientists said.
"It's not all in your head," said Dr. Herbert Benson, president emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "What we have found is that when you evoke the relaxation response, the very genes that are turned on or off by stress are turned the other way. The mind can actively turn on and turn off genes. The mind is not separated from the body."
One outside expert agreed. "It's sort of like reverse thinking: If you can wreak havoc on yourself with lifestyle choices, for example, [in a way that] causes expression of latent genetic manifestations in the negative, then the reverse should hold true," said Dr. Gerry Leisman, director of the F.R. Carrick Institute for Clinical Ergonomics, Rehabilitation and Applied Neuroscience at Leeds Metropolitan University in the U.K.
"Biology is not entirely our destiny, so while there are things that give us risk factors, there's a lot of 'wiggle' in this," added Leisman, who is also a professor at the University of Haifa in Israel. "This paper is pointing that there is a technique that allows us to play with the wiggle."
Benson, a pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, is co-senior author of the new study, which is published in the journal PLoS One.
Benson first described the relaxation response 35 years ago. Mind-body approaches that elicit the response include meditation, repetitive prayer, yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, guided imagery and Qi Gong.
"Previously, we had noted that there were scores of diseases that could be treated by eliciting the relaxation response -- everything from different kinds of pain, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis, insomnia," Benson said.
He believes that this study is the first comprehensive look at how mind states can affect gene expression. It also focuses on gene activity in healthy individuals.
Benson and his colleagues compared gene-expression patterns in 19 long-term practitioners, 19 healthy controls and 20 newcomers who underwent eight weeks of relaxation-response training.
More than 2,200 genes were activated differently in the long-time practitioners relative to the controls and 1,561 genes in the short-timers compared to the long-time practitioners. Some 433 of the differently activated genes were shared among short-term and long-term practitioners.
Further genetic analysis revealed changes in cellular metabolism, response to oxidative stress and other processes in both short- and long-term practitioners. All of these processes may contribute to cellular damage stemming from chronic stress.
Another expert had a mixed response to the findings.Robert Schwartz, director of the Texas A&M Health Science Center's Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston, noted that the study was relatively small. He also wished that there had been more data on the levels of stress hormones within the control group, for comparison purposes.
However, Schwartz called the study "unique and very exciting. It demonstrates that all these techniques of relaxation response have a biofeedback mechanism that alters gene expression."
He pointed out that the researchers looked at blood cells, which consist largely of immune cells. "You're getting the response most probably in the immune cell population," Schwartz said.
"We all are under stress and have many manifestations of that stress," Benson added. "To adequately protect ourselves against stress, we should use an approach and a technique that we believe evokes the relaxation response 20 minutes, once a day."
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Hypnotherapy Finding Its Place in Alternative Care
Hypnotherapy Finding Its Place in Alternative Care
By Christine Phelan, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
Jun. 30--CONCORD -- Just a day after Virginia Lieblein's open-heart surgery, recovery ward nurses were aghast to find her leaned over the bathroom sink, hair frothy with shampoo. Feeling fine despite the ordeal, she was determined "not to have bed head."
Weeks prior, however, Lieblein had been a nervous wreck. She was only 49. Felt out of control. And experienced the kind of pre-op terror that sent her heart racing.
What made the difference, explained Lieblein, now 53, was a kind of self-hypnosis -- based on the work of Peggy Huddleston's Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster -- and the realization that harnessing the power of her mind had everything to do with her health -- and recovery.
"Doctors used to be the ones that fixed you, healed you," said Lieblein, director of Emerson Hospital's Community Education programs. "Nowadays, though, you see more people who believe in the mind-body connection. They're responsible for their own healing. I think the time has come that this isn't strange anymore."
Later this fall, Emerson will offer a three-part hypnotherapy-based smoking cessation class, the first area hospital to do so. And if hypnosis isn't a mainstream solution to what ails us yet, said Lieblein, it's gained considerable acceptance as public interest in alternative therapies -- from acupuncture to Reiki to hypno-birthing -- grows increasingly common at major hospitals.
A lot of the interest, experts say, has to do with consumer-driven health care and
a culture that's fast embracing alternatives to traditional medical care. Those changes, in turn, have compelled physicians to work closely with those trained in everything from pain management to yoga, something that a generation ago was unheard of.
At Emerson, visualization and hypnosis courses based on Huddleston's work are offered routinely to all patients scheduled for surgery. Elsewhere, alternative therapies are even used to stave off disease. At Lowell General Hospital, those with risk factors for heart disease are referred to the hospital's Yoga for Heart class. LGH now requires Huddleston's course for all its gastric bypass patients.
"They found that they were calmer before and after the surgery," said Huddleston, a Lexington-based psychotherapist, "and they recovered so much faster that they're convinced it just makes for a happier and easier patient to take care of."
Patients who use Huddleston's visualization require less pain medication, have less anxiety, spend less time in the hospital and ultimately, she said, cost less.
While research on hypnosis has been mixed, some say it may soon become just as routine. Until then, however, hypnotist Joe Packard -- who will teach Emerson's smoking cessation class this fall -- is used to being a "last resort."
"These are people who've tried everything else -- the gum, the patch, the drugs -- the things that mask the issue," explained Packard. "But what they have is a feeling. And when you change the feeling that's causing the behavior, then you don't do it. You'll be successful for the long-term."
Packard said he directly addresses clients' subconscious so that the feeling that elicits the bad habit -- reaching for a cigarette, cookie or drink -- changes. He likens a trance to daydreaming but said hypnosis is never something that's done to a client but with them.
"It's exciting," said Lieblein. "It's a big change from the normal offerings, but for those who've tried other methods and want it badly enough, it can really work.
"Hypnosis isn't just the thing they do out in Las Vegas anymore," she added. "Why not offer a variety of ways? Then smokers can see what works for them."
-----
To see more of The Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lowellsun.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
By Christine Phelan, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
Jun. 30--CONCORD -- Just a day after Virginia Lieblein's open-heart surgery, recovery ward nurses were aghast to find her leaned over the bathroom sink, hair frothy with shampoo. Feeling fine despite the ordeal, she was determined "not to have bed head."
Weeks prior, however, Lieblein had been a nervous wreck. She was only 49. Felt out of control. And experienced the kind of pre-op terror that sent her heart racing.
What made the difference, explained Lieblein, now 53, was a kind of self-hypnosis -- based on the work of Peggy Huddleston's Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster -- and the realization that harnessing the power of her mind had everything to do with her health -- and recovery.
"Doctors used to be the ones that fixed you, healed you," said Lieblein, director of Emerson Hospital's Community Education programs. "Nowadays, though, you see more people who believe in the mind-body connection. They're responsible for their own healing. I think the time has come that this isn't strange anymore."
Later this fall, Emerson will offer a three-part hypnotherapy-based smoking cessation class, the first area hospital to do so. And if hypnosis isn't a mainstream solution to what ails us yet, said Lieblein, it's gained considerable acceptance as public interest in alternative therapies -- from acupuncture to Reiki to hypno-birthing -- grows increasingly common at major hospitals.
A lot of the interest, experts say, has to do with consumer-driven health care and
a culture that's fast embracing alternatives to traditional medical care. Those changes, in turn, have compelled physicians to work closely with those trained in everything from pain management to yoga, something that a generation ago was unheard of.
At Emerson, visualization and hypnosis courses based on Huddleston's work are offered routinely to all patients scheduled for surgery. Elsewhere, alternative therapies are even used to stave off disease. At Lowell General Hospital, those with risk factors for heart disease are referred to the hospital's Yoga for Heart class. LGH now requires Huddleston's course for all its gastric bypass patients.
"They found that they were calmer before and after the surgery," said Huddleston, a Lexington-based psychotherapist, "and they recovered so much faster that they're convinced it just makes for a happier and easier patient to take care of."
Patients who use Huddleston's visualization require less pain medication, have less anxiety, spend less time in the hospital and ultimately, she said, cost less.
While research on hypnosis has been mixed, some say it may soon become just as routine. Until then, however, hypnotist Joe Packard -- who will teach Emerson's smoking cessation class this fall -- is used to being a "last resort."
"These are people who've tried everything else -- the gum, the patch, the drugs -- the things that mask the issue," explained Packard. "But what they have is a feeling. And when you change the feeling that's causing the behavior, then you don't do it. You'll be successful for the long-term."
Packard said he directly addresses clients' subconscious so that the feeling that elicits the bad habit -- reaching for a cigarette, cookie or drink -- changes. He likens a trance to daydreaming but said hypnosis is never something that's done to a client but with them.
"It's exciting," said Lieblein. "It's a big change from the normal offerings, but for those who've tried other methods and want it badly enough, it can really work.
"Hypnosis isn't just the thing they do out in Las Vegas anymore," she added. "Why not offer a variety of ways? Then smokers can see what works for them."
-----
To see more of The Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lowellsun.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Corn Sweetners are DEADLY!!
This is so important that I thought it deserves a second blog today! Corn Sweetener is causing the fattening of America.
Believe it!
Now read this article where the people who are making millions on this product attempt to get you to believe that it is perfectly OK.
Don't believe it!
Many who have done weight reduction with me have heard me tell you to take this product out of your food plan... when you consume food that contontains this, Corn Sweetener interfers with the "appistat". (Like thermostat!!)The appistat is the signal that the belly sends to the brain that it is time to quit eating. Corn Sweetner causes the appistat not to function. I have been saying this for YEARS...
Now read what the manufacturer wants you to believe:
Sweeting Corn Syrup's Public Image
Source: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), June 23, 2008
The Corn Refiners Association launched an 18-month, $20 to $30 million public relations and advertising campaign "to convince consumers that HFCS [high-fructose corn syrup] isn't the evil it has been made out to be." The industry group is running ads in major newspapers -- under the banner "time for a little food for thought" -- that say HFCS has the "same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey."
The campaign, which was created by the Omnicom Group firm DDB, also includes television and online ads and "phone and in-person conversations with influential mommy bloggers." The Corn Refiners Association "has been trying to counter the bad publicity around HFCS since 2004," but concluded it "could no longer afford to rely on simple grass-roots marketing tactics such as talking with nutritionists and doctors."
Major food and beverage producers, such as Kraft, are now promoting products as HFCS-free. The American Medical Association recently concluded that HFCS "doesn't appear to contribute more to obesity than other caloric sweeteners," but called for "further independent research."
Believe it!
Now read this article where the people who are making millions on this product attempt to get you to believe that it is perfectly OK.
Don't believe it!
Many who have done weight reduction with me have heard me tell you to take this product out of your food plan... when you consume food that contontains this, Corn Sweetener interfers with the "appistat". (Like thermostat!!)The appistat is the signal that the belly sends to the brain that it is time to quit eating. Corn Sweetner causes the appistat not to function. I have been saying this for YEARS...
Now read what the manufacturer wants you to believe:
Sweeting Corn Syrup's Public Image
Source: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), June 23, 2008
The Corn Refiners Association launched an 18-month, $20 to $30 million public relations and advertising campaign "to convince consumers that HFCS [high-fructose corn syrup] isn't the evil it has been made out to be." The industry group is running ads in major newspapers -- under the banner "time for a little food for thought" -- that say HFCS has the "same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey."
The campaign, which was created by the Omnicom Group firm DDB, also includes television and online ads and "phone and in-person conversations with influential mommy bloggers." The Corn Refiners Association "has been trying to counter the bad publicity around HFCS since 2004," but concluded it "could no longer afford to rely on simple grass-roots marketing tactics such as talking with nutritionists and doctors."
Major food and beverage producers, such as Kraft, are now promoting products as HFCS-free. The American Medical Association recently concluded that HFCS "doesn't appear to contribute more to obesity than other caloric sweeteners," but called for "further independent research."
Are You Freebasing Nicotine?
Source: American Journal of Public Health (sub req'd), July 2008
Most American cigarette makers, including Philip Morris (PM), have used ammonia in their manufacturing processes for decades, to "puff up" tobacco to increase its volume, highlight certain flavors, help hold together reconstituted tobacco sheet and reduce the amount of nicotine.
Lesser known is that tobacco companies use ammonia to "freebase" the nicotine in smoke, essentially turning it into "crack nicotine." Freebase nicotine is absorbed by the body more quickly and easily, resulting in a faster, harder "kick" after lighting up. Using ammonia has allowed tobacco companies to lower the tar and nicotine levels in cigarettes while still keeping smokers addicted, a strategy developed to deal with the health fears surrounding cigarettes. PM was the first to use "ammonia technology," applying it to Marlboros in the 1960s. After the change, Marlboro zoomed from a minor brand to a runaway market success, causing other cigarette makers to scramble to discover PM's "secret." After PM was accused of intentionally manipulating the nicotine deliveries of its cigarettes, the company pointed to all the other uses for ammonia to defend itself against the charge.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Hypnosis may ease inflammation in colitis
I am going to be using my blog to keep you up to date on all the news on Hypnosis! Since hypnosis can be used for many more issues than most people realize, do come back often for all the latest. So here is the first:
Hypnosis may ease inflammation in colitis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hypnosis therapy may help ease some of the bowel inflammation seen in ulcerative colitis, a small study suggests.
Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes chronic inflammation in the lining of the colon and rectum, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. There a number of medications for the disorder, but there is some research to suggest that hypnosis could serve as an additional therapy.
For example, "hypnotherapy" has been shown to aid irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers -- conditions that, like colitis, involve inflammation and can be worsened by psychological stress.
For the current study, UK researchers had 17 patients with active ulcerative colitis undergo a 50-minute session of "gut-focused" hypnotherapy aimed at relaxation and relief of inflammation. Another eight patients, who acted as a "control" group, listened to their choice of music for 50 minutes.
Afterward, the researchers found, blood levels of IL-6 -- a marker of inflammation in the body -- fell by 53 percent in the hypnosis group, whereas music listeners showed no substantial change.
Similarly, certain other chemical markers of inflammation declined in the hypnosis group, but not in the control group, the investigators report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
"This work shows that a single short session of hypnosis can return some of the chemical changes in the bowel associated with inflammation back towards normal in patients with ulcerative colitis," senior researcher Dr. David S. Rampton, of Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, told Reuters Health.
Exactly why hypnosis might ease inflammation is not clear. According to Rampton's team, the therapy might have direct effects on colon activity or it might affect people's pain tolerance or perceptions of their symptoms.
The current findings, Rampton said, provide "a scientific basis for a properly designed clinical trial" to see whether hypnotherapy, given over weeks or months, might benefit people with ulcerative colitis.
He noted that it could also be worthwhile to study hypnosis for people with Crohn's disease, another form of inflammatory bowel disease.
SOURCE: American Journal of Gastroenterology, June 2008.=
Hypnosis may ease inflammation in colitis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hypnosis therapy may help ease some of the bowel inflammation seen in ulcerative colitis, a small study suggests.
Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes chronic inflammation in the lining of the colon and rectum, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. There a number of medications for the disorder, but there is some research to suggest that hypnosis could serve as an additional therapy.
For example, "hypnotherapy" has been shown to aid irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers -- conditions that, like colitis, involve inflammation and can be worsened by psychological stress.
For the current study, UK researchers had 17 patients with active ulcerative colitis undergo a 50-minute session of "gut-focused" hypnotherapy aimed at relaxation and relief of inflammation. Another eight patients, who acted as a "control" group, listened to their choice of music for 50 minutes.
Afterward, the researchers found, blood levels of IL-6 -- a marker of inflammation in the body -- fell by 53 percent in the hypnosis group, whereas music listeners showed no substantial change.
Similarly, certain other chemical markers of inflammation declined in the hypnosis group, but not in the control group, the investigators report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
"This work shows that a single short session of hypnosis can return some of the chemical changes in the bowel associated with inflammation back towards normal in patients with ulcerative colitis," senior researcher Dr. David S. Rampton, of Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, told Reuters Health.
Exactly why hypnosis might ease inflammation is not clear. According to Rampton's team, the therapy might have direct effects on colon activity or it might affect people's pain tolerance or perceptions of their symptoms.
The current findings, Rampton said, provide "a scientific basis for a properly designed clinical trial" to see whether hypnotherapy, given over weeks or months, might benefit people with ulcerative colitis.
He noted that it could also be worthwhile to study hypnosis for people with Crohn's disease, another form of inflammatory bowel disease.
SOURCE: American Journal of Gastroenterology, June 2008.=
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