MEMBER

MEMBER

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
See Your Physician, If You Believe You May Be Suffering From IBS.
Suggest To Your Physician/Psychologist/Counselor The Possibility of Using Complimentary Hypnotherapy Along With Whatever Other Treatment Plan May Be Prescribed.

The following is extracted from and article in Prevention Magazine, June 1998, page 104 titled IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

   This condition which is a disturbance of the colon, can cause severe bloating, painful cramping and both constipation and diarrhea.  It affects a lot of people -10% to 15% of the population by some estimates-and accounts for about half
of all the visits to gastroenterologists.
Standard treatment.
High-fiber diet, "bulking" laxatives, anti-spasmodic medication.

BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT: Hypnosis
   Honest - the evidence is so overwhelming that Adriane Fugh-Bemlan, MD, author of Alternative Medicine: What Works/ (Williams & Wilkins, 1997) and chair of the National Women's Health Network in Washington, DC, says that hypnosis should be the treatment of choice for severe cases of lBS.
   Her  confidence is based on a number of studies performed by P.J. Whorwell, MD, of the University of Manchester Hospital in Ellgland, in which hypnosis greatly relieved - and in some cases completely eliminated--symptoms in most people.
   Dr. Whorwell has attribuled his high rate of success to a specific "gut directed" style of hypnosis; a technique adopted with enthusiasm in the US by Olafur S. Palsson Psy.D, director of the behavior medicine clinic at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.  In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association last year.  Dr. Palsson reported a high level of improvement--less pain, less bloating, better-formed stools--in17 of 18 patients using this method.
   A clinical psychologist and native of Iceland, Dr. I'alsson explains that he first created a script.  "We wrote down everything the hypnotist would say so that all 18 patients got the exact Same treatment, " he Says.  There were seven sessions, each lasting 30 to 40 minutes.  After the hypnotist induced a very deep level of physical relaxation, he followed it with gut-specific imagery, an exercise in which the participants imagined, for instance, a strong, protective coating being applied to the insides of their intestines that would .soothe the gut and do away with their symptoms.  Participants also got a 15-minute audiotape to use once a day to reinforce the hypnotic suggestion.
   The result? A remarkable 80% success rate, often achieving complete disappearance of the abdominal pain and discomfort that are hallmarks of the condition.  And, according to the English studies, the improvement lasts for at least  a couple of  years.  If symptoms recur, Dr. I'a;sson explains,  you simply go
back for another session or two.
   "Taking time to relax every day is very important with a problem like IBS," explains Dr. Palsson. "Physical tension and stress create unfavorable conditions for  healing--and for heath in general."
   Despite its success the acceptance of hypnosis as a "real' treatment has been frustrating says Dr. Palsson.  "In England, medical hypnosis es used much more frequently-tlhey've used it to treat IBS successfully for the past 15 years--but nobody seems to be doing it on a large scale in the US."  Interestingly, he adds, "the majority of my patients don't even expect it to work--and are Completely .mystified when it does.  Luckily, it doesn't depend on their belief to be effective."
   Dr. Whorwell is adamant that hypnosis  "is not a placebo treatment," and the evidence supports him.  In his first published study, he actually gave a placebo (sugar pill) and standard psychotherapy to one group of people, while a second group received hypnotherapy alone.  Those receiving hypnotherapy improved, while those who received psychotherapy and took the pill--which could have triggered any placebo effect did not.
   Dr. Palsson emphasizes, however, that hypnosis should only be performed by trained, certified professionals.

The following information taken from 1998 study at and by:
(Full contact info provided for other hypnotherapists who may wish to order a copy of the study.  They are kind enough to even include the actual full prescriptions used in the study)

Olafur S. Palsson, Psy.D.
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Division of Behavioral Medicine
721 Fairfax Avenue, Suite 506
Post Office Box 1980
Norfolk, Virginia

What Is IBS?

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (1BS)

• A functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, bowel function abnormalities in frequency and consistency ( diarrhea/constipation or mixed), and sometimes bloating or abdominal distention

• Affects 9.4% of the US population (Drossman et al. 1993)

• In Western countries, twice as common in women

• Women 75-80 % of IBS Seen in clinical practice

• IBS accounts for 3 million doctors' visits a year

• Is the reason for 25-50% of all visits to gastroenterologists
  

IBS: Diagnosis

• The diagnosis used to be 1oosely and inconsistently applied to a variety of bowel complaints

• A specific set of consensus criteria - "The  Rome Criteria" (Thompson et al., 1992) have led to improvement in diagnostic practices.

• Firm diagnosis depends on both patients meeting the Rome criteria and negative physical findings.

• Recent factor analysis studies confirm the Rome symptoms criteria as a distinctive diagnostic entity (Paisson et al, 1996)

The Rome Criteria

The Rome Criteria for IBS
At least 3 months of continuous or recurrent symptoms must be present, and have to include:
1.  Abdominal pain relieved by defecation or accompanied by a change in stool frequency (<3x/week, or >3x /day) or consistency.
and
2.  Disturbed defecation at least 25% of the time, consisting of two or more of the following:

• Altered frequency of bowel movement

• Altered consistency of stool (hard or loose and watery)

• Altered stool passage

• Passage of Mucus

• Abdominal distention

Physical Evaluation

• All of the below should be normal:

• Physical examination

• Lab tests
      Complete blood cell count
      Blood chemical analysis
      Stool tests (occult blood, alkalization, 72-hour stool collection)

• Flexible  (if neoplasm or inflammatory disease is a concern)

source: Harris (1997), Postgraduate medicine, 101, 215-226

The Psychology of IBS

• A high proportion of IBS patients who consult physicians have psychiatric comorbidity:  Most commonly affective disorders, depression or anxiety.

• Patients with IBS have been found to have elevated scores on neuroticism, social desirability, and somatization scales.

Also see Symptomatology, quality of life and economic features of irritable bowel syndrome --- the effect of hypnotherapy.  SO - Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 1996 Feb;10(1):91-5