UCLA researchers recently reported that patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) use over 50 percent more health resources than people without the disorder. And even though IBS can be diagnosed through simple blood tests, many IBS patients have additional procedures and surgeries that rarely result in positive outcomes. "This finding suggests that the doctors and not the patients may be driving the need for procedures and surgeries that may not be necessary," said Dr. Brennan M.R. Spiegel from UCLA. But expensive diagnostic procedures and hit-or-miss treatments for IBS may soon become history. In another study, researchers from the U.K. say they have found hypnotherapy to be an effective treatment for IBS.
Peter Whorwell, from the University of Manchester, has been researching the use of gut-directed hypnosis for over 20 years. Most recently, two hundred and fifty patients who suffered from IBS for over two years were given twelve one-hour sessions. "During the hypnotherapy, sufferers learn how to influence and gain control of their gut function, and then seem to be able to change the way the brain modulates their gut activity," explained Whorwell. "IBS is ideal for treatment with hypnosis, as there is no structural damage to the body."
Whorwell said that the hypnotherapy treatment had a success-rate of about 70 percent and that while it was labor-intensive, could be an extremely effective treatment for the condition.
"We've found it to help all the symptoms, whereas some of the drugs available reduce only a few," he said. "As IBS can be a life-long condition it could clearly be a very valuable option for patients; however it is not suitable for everyone and women tend to respond better than men."
Female patients gave the new treatment the thumbs-up. "I suffered from IBS and was on medication for nearly 20 years, but could get little relief from my symptoms. Since visiting the clinic for 12 hypnotherapy sessions last year however they've disappeared completely - the difference it's made to my quality of life is indescribable," said one.
Another patient who suffered from IBS after a hysterectomy said the treatment had changed her life. " I couldn't plan holidays or leisure activities and at work I was often doubled-up in pain. But since having weekly hypnotherapy sessions for three months I've now been free from IBS for five and a half years - the treatment has totally changed my life," she said.
Whorwell runs a dedicated unit at Wythenshawe Hospital which treats patients from all over the United Kingdom.
Based on material from Manchester University and the University of California Los Angeles.
