Hypnosis In Medicine
Medical Author: William C. Shiel, Jr, MD, FACP, FACR
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
The role of hypnosis in medicine has been evolving over the
last 100 years. Currently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United
States is funding clinical trials of complementary and alternative medicine.
Hypnosis in medicine has been one of the focuses of this funding effort.
Hypnosis in contemporary medicine was reviewed by
James H. Stewart, M. D., of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, (Mayo Clin.
Proc 105; 80 (4): 511-524). In this review, Dr. Stewart highlighted basic
concepts of hypnosis and reviewed the results of many clinical trials of
hypnosis in treating a variety of medical conditions.
Dr. Stewart noted that hypnosis does not involve a process
of simply following instructions. Rather, it is an actual change in the
perception of the brain as demonstrated by brain tests while people are
undergoing hypnosis. Studies have shown that hypnosis does not act as a placebo
and is not a state of sleep.
Dr. Stewart also noted that modern hypnotism was introduced
by the Austrian physician, Franz Anton Mesmer, who is said to have brought what
was referred to as "animal magnetism" to France in 1778. Hypnotism came to be
called "Mesmerism" and was soon discredited as fraudulent. Hypnosis as a method
of psychoanalysis evolved in the 20th century. Over the past 50
years, many studies have demonstrated the potential of hypnosis as an adjunctive
treatment for a variety of conditions.
While hypnosis is generally considered to be a relatively
harmless procedure, Dr. Stewart notes that it can be associated with the risk
of side effects including headaches,
dizziness, nausea, anxiety and even
panic.
In reviewing studies of hypnosis treatments by using a
Medline database, Dr. Stewart found that hypnosis has had reported benefits in
treating:
- allergies,
- anesthesia for pain relief and surgery,
- treatment of
resistant eczema,
- irritable bowel syndrome,
- peptic ulcer disease,
- high blood
pressure (hypertension),
- obesity,
- healing of wounds,
- smoking cessation,
- chronic tinnitus,
- fibromyalgia, and
- impotence (erectile
dysfunction, ED).
Hypnosis has also been reported as being successful in the
treatment of pain associated with bone marrow transplantation,
nausea and vomiting as a result of chemotherapy for cancer treatment, and anesthesia for
liver biopsy,
upper GI endoscopy, and colonoscopy.
It should be noted, as mentioned in Dr. Stewart's review,
that many of the diseases and conditions for which hypnosis has been reported to
be beneficial can only be partially treated by the therapies and medicines
currently available. It therefore seems that since hypnosis affords a
relatively harmless treatment option, its use as a complementary treatment
should be further explored by doctors and other health care providers.
Reference: J. Stewart. "Hypnosis in Contemporary Medicine." Mayo Clin.
Proc 105; 80 (4): 511-524 (2005).
Last Editorial Review: 9/9/2009