Study on T4 cells and Mindfulness. Can we Utilize Hypnosis?

The Department of Psychiatry at UCLA studied the effects of mindfulness meditation training on selected biological markers of HIV-1 progression.

The study tested an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction meditation program (MBSR), as compared to a 1-day control seminar, to assay CD4+ T lymphocyte counts in stressed HIV infected adults.

A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted between November 2005 and December 2007. A diverse community sample of 48 HIV-1 infected adults was randomized to enter treatment in either an 8-week MBSR or a 1-day control stress reduction education seminar.

The main outcome measure was the circulating counts of CD4+ T lymphocytes. Participants in the 1-day control seminar showed declines in CD4+ T lymphocyte counts, whereas counts among participants in the 8-week MBSR program were unchanged from baseline to post-intervention (time x treatment condition interaction, p=.02).

This effect was independent of antiretroviral (ARV) medication use. Additional analyses indicated that treatment adherence and class attendance mediated the positive effects of the mindfulness meditation training buffering of the CD4+ T lymphocyte declines.

The findings of this pilot provide an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training can buffer CD4+ T lymphocyte declines in HIV-1 infected adults.

Citation: Creswell JD, Myers HF, Cole SW, Irwin MR. Mindfulness meditation training effects on CD4+ T lymphocytes in HIV-1 infected adults: a small randomized controlled trial. Brain, Behavior & Immunity. 2009 Feb;23 (2): pages 184-8. Epub 2008 Jul 19. creswell@cmu.edu

Can Hypnosis Help with Stress Induced Weight Gain

In the July 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

For the study, 1,355 men and women was followed for more than nine years. The research was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the National Institute on Aging

“Today’s economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses —such as heart disease, high blood pressure and increased risk for cancer. This study shows that stress is also linked to weight gain,” according to Jason Block, M.D., M.P.H., who conducted the research.

Women’s waistlines are affected by more types of stress, according to the study, “Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among U.S. Adults.”

In addition to weight gain associated with financial problems or a difficult job, women also added pounds when grappling with strained family relationships and feeling limited by life’s circumstances.

For men, the numbers on the scale did not go up when facing difficult family relationships or feeling constrained by life circumstances. Among men, lack of decision-making authority at work and lack of skill discretion was associated with greater weight gain. Skill discretion can be defined as the ability to learn new skills on the job and to perform interesting job duties.

Overall, this study found that people who reported increased psychological stress gained more weight if they already had higher body mass indexes (BMI).

Also according to the study, similar weight-gain patterns were not found among lower-weight people who were dealing with the same types of stress.

When coping with life’s stressful periods, individuals may change their eating behaviors which, can lead to changes in weight. Stress-induced weight gain is influenced by a person’s gender, what types of foods people eat when they change their eating behaviors, and whether the person is already overweight or obese.


Stress reduction may be an important part of weight-loss programs in the workplace and in clinical and public health programs, the study recommended. In the workplace, access to weight-loss programs, flexible work schedules and exercise programs can help stressed-out workers. It is my feeling that the obvious, using hypnosis for stress management, is a simple solution.

“This is one of the first studies to explore the relationship between stress and weight gain in a U.S. population,” Block said. “Our findings show that stress should be recognized as a threat to the well-being of American adults, especially those who are already overweight.”

Another Reason for Hypnosis to Stop Smoking

Thought this would be of interest to all:

Boxed warnings are VERY serious !!!!!


Popular Stop-Smoking Drugs to Carry Mental Health Risk Warnings

ABC News

Popular Stop-Smoking Drugs to Carry Mental Health Risk Warnings
ABC News
The US Food and Drug Administration said it will immediately require boxed warnings about the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms on the packaging of two popular smoking cessation drugs -- varenicline (Chantix) and buproprion (Zyban ...
FDA Warning on Stop-Smoking DrugsWebMD
Two anti-smoking drugs to carry mental-health warningsCNN
Suicide Warnings for 2 Anti-Smoking DrugsNew York Times

Mental Imagery and Stroke Patients Study

1: Stroke. 2009 Jun;40(6):2222-5. Epub 2009 Apr 23. Links
A randomized controlled trial of mental imagery augment generalization of learning in acute poststroke patients.

Liu KP, Chan CC, Wong RS, Kwan IW, Yau CS, Li LS, Lee TM.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our previous studies demonstrated that mental imagery intervention enhanced poststroke patients relearning daily task performance. This study aimed to test the efficacy of mental imagery for promoting generalization of the task skills learned in a training environment to trained and untrained tasks carried out in a novel environment. METHODS: Thirty-five acute poststroke patients were randomly assigned to the mental imagery (MI; n=18) or conventional functional rehabilitation (FR; n=17) group. The MI intervention was 3-week standardized practices and daily tasks using the chunking-regulation-rehearsal strategies. Outcome measurements were the performances on trained and untrained tasks in the training and novel environments. RESULTS: The MI patients showed significantly better performances on 4 of 5 trained tasks (P=0.001 to 0.026) versus only 1 task in the FR patients (P=0.021). The MI patients also outperformed their FR counterpart on the 3 (of 5) (P=0.025 to 0.049) trained and 2 (of 3) untrained tasks (P=0.042 to 0.045) carried out in the novel environment. CONCLUSIONS: The mental imagery intervention was useful for improving patients' ability on performing the tasks which they did not previously trained on and in places different from the training environments. These involved generalization of the skills learned at the task performance level. Our findings are limited to poststoke patients who share similar characteristics with those in this study.

Hypnosis and Hypnosis Paralysis

Have you ever wondered how, when you are in hypnosis, and someone tells you to "Try and lift your right hand and you cannot" you really can't even though you know you could?

In a recent study from the Journal of Neuron from Switzerland, volunteers made a hand movement in response to a cue. Some participants were hypnotized with the suggestion their left hands were paralyzed. Others were told to act as though their left hands were paralyzed. Then MRIs were done.

The MRI's showed that there was a change in communication between the motor areas of the brain and the rest of the brain in those who were hypnotized.

Researchers believe that hypnosis can result in a disconnection between the command areas of the brain and the part of the brain that would actually do the moving.

Check out this link !!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-06-24-paralyzed-hypnosis_N.htm?csp=27&RM_Exclude=Juno

Dr. Spiegel of Stanford talks about Hypnosis in the Operating Room

I found this article today and want to share it with everyone,

UT News from England
Hypnotise your patient, surgeons told

US calls for doctors to be taught to use hypnosis instead of general anaesthetic during some operations

Sunday, 07 June 2009

Doctors should be taught to hypnotise patients not to feel pain instead of using general anaesthetics during some operations, the Royal Society of Medicine will be told today.

In what he has described as a "clarion call to the British medical profession", Professor David Spiegel, of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University in the US, will also call on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to add hypnotherapy to its list of approved therapeutic techniques for the treatment of conditions ranging from allergies and high blood pressure to the pain associated with bone marrow transplantation, cancer treatment and anaesthesia for liver biopsy. Nice has already approved the technique for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.

"It is time for hypnosis to work its way into the mainstream of British medicine," Spiegel will say at the joint conference of the Royal Society of Medicine, the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis and the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis.

"There is solid science behind what sounds like mysticism and we need to get that message across to the bodies that influence this area. Hypnosis has no negative side-effects. It makes operations quicker, as the patient is able to talk to the surgeon as the operation proceeds, and it is cheaper than conventional pain relief. Since it does not interfere with the workings of the body, the patient recovers faster, too.

"It is also extremely powerful as a means of pain relief. Hypnosis has been accepted and rejected because people are nervous of it. They think it's either too powerful or not powerful enough, but, although the public are sceptical, the hardest part of the procedure is getting other doctors to accept it."

Professor Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville, head of the Pain Clinic at Liege University Hospital in Belgium, who has operated on more than 6,000 patients using hypnosis combined with a light local anaesthetic, said: "The local anaesthetic is used only to deaden the surface of the skin while a scalpel slices through it. It has no effect inside the body.

"The patient is conscious throughout the operation and this helps the doctor and patient work together. The patient may have to move during an operation and it's simple to get them to do so if they remain conscious. We've even done a hysterectomy using the procedure."

The theory behind medical hypnosis is that the body's brain and nervous system can't always distinguish an imagined situation from a real occurrence. This means the brain can act on any image or verbal suggestion as if it were reality. Hypnosis puts patients into a state of deep relaxation that is very susceptible to imagery. The more vivid this imagery, the greater the effect on the body.

Dr Martin Wall, president of the Section Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine, said hypnosis fundamentally alters a subject's state of mind. Hypnosis is not, he said, simply a matter of suggestibility and relaxation.
Nice said it would welcome submissions for hypnotherapy to be considered as an approved therapeutic technique on the NHS if it could be cost-effective, and consistent delivery could be guaranteed.

But Professor Steve Field, who chairs the Royal College of General Practitioners, said he was sceptical as to whether hypnotherapy could meet these standards.

"It is a useful tool used by some GPs and patients for relaxation, but I don't think it is something that we should support being rolled out to all medical students and all doctors," he said.

"We can't call on the NHS to support it without there being a firm medical and economic basis, and I'm not convinced those have been proved to exist."

Hypnosis and Fibromyalgia study

A New study from Bellaruth Naparastek site:

belleruthnaparstek.com/hot-research/ericksonian-hypnosis-reduces-tender-points-in-people-with-fibromyalgia.html

Ericksonian Hypnosis Reduces Tender Points in People with Fibromyalgia
Monday, 11 May 2009

Researchers from the Unidad de Investigació Médica in Merida, Mexico, explored the efficacy of Ericksonian Hypnosis for managing the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Forty-three female fibromyalgia patients were randomly assigned to receive either six months of Ericksonian hypnosis (n = 20) or a sham-hypnosis protocol (n = 23). Each month, measures were taken using the Patient and Physician Global Disease Assessment, a count of tender points, and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ).

During the follow-up, no inter-group differences were found on the Patient and Physician Global Disease Assessment nor the FIQ scores. But at the third month and at the fourth month of follow-up, the participants who were in the group receiving Ericksonian hypnosis had a significant reduction in the tender point count.

The study concludes that even though there was no apparent effect on functional status nor on the patient and physician global assessment, hypnosis produced a significant reduction in the number of tender points, resulting in a suggestion that Ericsonian hypnosis be considered as an adjuvant treatment for the management of fibromyalgia. [Article in Spanish]

Citation: Alvarez-Nemegyei J, Negreros-Castillo A, Nuño-Gutiérrez BL, Alvarez-Berzunza J, Alcocer-Martínez LM. Ericksonian hypnosis in women with fibromyalgia syndrome. Revista Medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. 2007 Jul-Aug; 45 (4): pages 395-401.

Hypnosis/Stress and Chemotherapy

A new study shown on Bellaruth Naparastek site:

http://belleruthnaparstek.com/hot-research/imagery-reduces-stress-when-chemo-is-done.html

Imagery Reduces Stress When Chemo Is Done
Monday, 09 March 2009
Investigators from Mind Matters Research in Anchorage, Alaska summarized their Phase I National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trial with 34 breast cancer survivors, six weeks to one year post-treatment, who were recruited to participate in a 6-class, 8-week long imagery stress reduction program entitled "Envision the Rhythms of Life."

Patients practiced imagery during and between sessions. Outcomes for quality of life and cortisol rhythm were assessed pre- to post-intervention, in two subsets of survivors (intravenous [IV] chemotherapy, or no IV chemotherapy).

Thirty of the 34 survivors completed the 8-week program. Quality of life outcomes were measured with the cancer therapy-general (FACT-G) global index and yielded statistically and clinically significant results (p<.001) in quality of life related to physical, social/family, emotional, and functional well-being. Survivors also improved significantly on the breast cancer (p<.001) and spiritual subscales (p = .008.)

The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) assessment also demonstrated significant improvement in the global index (p<.001), which included the categories of depression, somatization and anxiety. At eight weeks, cortisol rhythm, a biochemical indicator of stress, produced a trend toward improvement for the fifth time point of the day (p = .18). Likert-based stress scales showed highly significant reductions in stress (p<.0001) with subjects practicing imagery the most producing the best scores.

Outcomes suggest the imagery program may significantly improve survivor quality of life and reduce stress.

Freeman L, Cohen L, Stewart M, White R, Link J, Palmer JL, Welton D. Imagery intervention for recovering breast cancer patients: clinical trial of safety and efficacy. Journal of the Society of Integrative Oncology. 2008. Spring; 6 (2): pages 67-75

The Nocebo Effect and Hypnosis

There is a great article appearing in NewScientist about the power of negative words. It it what is called the Nocebo Effect which is different than the placebo effect in one is a positive response and one is a negative response. They even mention hypnosis in the article.

The science of voodoo: When mind attacks body
http://newscientist.com/article/mg20227081.100-the-science-of-voodoo-when-mind-attacks-body.html


There is more evidence everyday, if we pay attention, that our mind is much more in control of our body tan we CONSCIOUSLY are aware of.

Hypnosis and Sleep for Chronic PTSD

From Israel comes a study using hypnosis as an add-on therapy for patients with chronic PTSD, showing benefit for sleep. Here is the scientific abstract. Enjoy.



This study evaluated the benefits of add-on hypnotherapy in patients with chronic PTSD. Thirty-two PTSD patients treated by SSRI antidepressants and supportive psychotherapy were randomized to 2 groups: 15 patients in the first group received Zolpidem 10 mg nightly for 14 nights, and 17 patients in the hypnotherapy group were treated by symptom-oriented hypnotherapy, twice-a-week 1.5-hour sessions for 2 weeks. All patients completed the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C, Beck Depression Inventory, Impact of Event Scale, and Visual Subjective Sleep Quality Questionnaire before and after treatment. There was a significant main effect of the hypnotherapy treatment with PTSD symptoms as measured by the Posttraumatic Disorder Scale. This effect was preserved at follow-up 1 month later. Additional benefits for the hypnotherapy group were decreases in intrusion and avoidance reactions and improvement in all sleep variables assessed.



Abramowitz EG, Barak Y, Ben-Avi I, Knobler HY. Hypnotherapy in the treatment of chronic combat-related PTSD patients suffering from insomnia: a randomized, zolpidem-controlled clinical trial. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2008 Jul;56(3):270-80. Israel Defense Forces, Mental Health Department, Israel.

Hypnosis and Ulcerative Cystitis

A study I thought might be of interest:

Original Contribution

The American Journal of Gastroenterology (2008) 103, 1460–1469; doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2008.01845.x

The Effect of Hypnosis on Systemic and Rectal Mucosal Measures of Inflammation in Ulcerative Colitis

Joel E Mawdsley MD1, David G Jenkins MD1, Marion G Macey PhD2, Louise Langmead MD3 and David S Rampton PhD1

1Centre for Gastroenterology, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom
2Department of Haematology, Barts and the London NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom
3Department of Gastroenterology, University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
Correspondence: David S. Rampton, Endoscopy Unit, Royal London Hospital, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.


Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Hypnotherapy is effective in several diseases with a psychosomatic component. Our aim was to study the effects of one session of hypnosis on the systemic and rectal mucosal inflammatory responses in patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC).
METHODS: In total, 17 patients with active UC underwent a 50-min session of gut-focused hypnotherapy. Before and after each procedure, the systemic inflammatory response was assessed by serum interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-13 concentrations, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-) and IL-6 production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated whole blood, leukocyte count, natural killer (NK) cell number, platelet activation, and platelet–leukocyte aggregate formation. Rectal inflammation was assessed by mucosal release of substance P (SP), histamine, IL-13 and TNF-, reactive oxygen metabolite production, and mucosal blood flow. Eight patients with active UC underwent a control procedure.
RESULTS: Hypnosis decreased pulse by a median 7 beats per minute (bpm) (P= 0.0008); it also reduced the median serum IL-6 concentration by 53% (P= 0.001), but had no effect on the other systemic variables assessed. Hypnosis reduced rectal mucosal release of SP by a median 81% (P= 0.001), histamine by 35% (P= 0.002) and IL-13 by 53% (P= 0.003), and also, blood flow by 18% (P= 0.0004). The control protocol had no effect on any of the variables assessed.
CONCLUSIONS: Hypnosis reduced several components of the systemic and mucosal inflammatory response in active ulcerative colitis toward levels found previously in the inactive disease. Some of these effects may contribute to the anecdotally reported benefits of hypnotherapy and provide a rationale for controlled trials of hypnotherapy in UC.

Hypnosis and Incontinence

Thought this might be of interest:

A team of researchers from Loyola University Health System have shown that cognitive therapy (which included deep breathing and guided imagery) can help women control the bladder without medication or surgery.

Now granted, the pilot study was small,(only 10 women) which statistically is not a very good study. These women experienced a sudden and uncontrollable urge to urinate (Urge Incontinence). After an initial office visit, the participants of the study were told to listen to an audio recording with a series of relaxation and visualization exercises at home, twice a day for two weeks. The patients had to keep a urinary diary for one week, recording how often they had any urine leakage with urge.

The researchers found the majority of the patients improved; the average number of urge incontinence episodes per week decreased from 38 to 12, according to the study results, which were published in the Journal of Urology.

http://www.loyolamedicine.org/News/News_Releases/news_release_detail.cfm?var_news_release_id=973440965

Share of Article on Hypnotherapy for Pediatric Cancer Patients

Hypnosis Therapy Helps Pediatric Cancer Patients

Friday, May 01, 2009 by: Steve G. Jones, M.Ed., citizen journalist http://www.naturaln ews.com/026171. html

(NaturalNews) According to the National Cancer Institute, almost 11,000 children (under the age of 15) will be diagnosed with a form of cancer in 2008. Advances in cancer research and cancer treatments have greatly improved since the 1970`s. Before the 1970`s children with cancer had a 50% 5-year survival rate. Now the 5-year survival rate is 80% and the 10-year survival rate is 75%. These survival statistics are based on children from infancy to the age of 18. New studies have now found that hypnosis, as an adjunct therapy, can help speed up the healing process due to the treatment of cancer in children.

Research has been performed using adjunct therapies to help children with cancer cope with the side effects of various cancer treatments. The goal in treating cancer is to cure the child of cancer, but there are usually unpleasant side effects of treatment. All treatments can cause fear in the child because with each procedure, they already have a preconceived notion of what is to come. There are a lot of physical and psychological side effects that go along with cancer. There have been many studies that have tested different therapies including hypnotherapy.

A study appeared in The American Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology that tested the benefits of self-hypnosis on children with cancer. The study involved 25 children at the Minneapolis Children`s Health Center that were undergoing cancer treatments. Researchers wanted to see how hypnosis would relieve side effects from the treatments.

All 25 of the pediatric cancer patients were recently diagnosed with cancer at the start of the study and were asked to use self-hypnosis exercises to help relieve their symptoms. The self-hypnosis exercises included imagery and teaching the children that they could have control over their symptoms. Twenty-one of the 25 participants agreed to use self-hypnosis. Of these 21 participants, 19 children reported substantial relief from their symptoms.

This study goes to show that substantial benefits can be realized in children suffering from the side effects of cancer. The research focused mainly on nausea and pain and most of the participants reported a reduction in both. This improvement in side effects could have a major impact on the quality of life for both pediatric cancer patients and their parents. Teaching children self-hypnosis can put them in control of their symptoms (Sugarman, 1996).

Hypnotherapy can be considered an ideal treatment for children suffering not just from cancer, but from any other disease as well. The procedure is completely painless and has very little chance of discomfort. It is also very effective on children because children have the power of imagination that exceeds that of most adults. It is simpler to make a child believe that they are well when they are sick than it would be for an adult.

Sources

Olness, K. (1981). Imagery (Self-Hypnosis) as Adjunct Therapy in Childhood Cancer: Clinical Experience with 25 Patients. The American Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology , Fall; 3(3). 313-21.

Sugarman, L.I. (1996). Hypnosis: Teaching children self-regulation. Pediatrics.

Post-Op Dental Surgery and Supplemental Hypnosis

It is four days post op dental surgery with supplemental hypnosis. Let me start out by saying that I have a VERY surprised oral surgeon. :)

The 1 1/2 surgery was more extensive than originally thought and lasted 2 1/2 hours.

When I was at the check out area and scheduling the post -op check the surgeon came out and in complete surprise commented that "I was more sedated than his sedated patients".

I knew it was lasting longer because my iPod was on a repeat cycle and my Surgery Hypnosis CD lasts an hour and I could tell when it started from the beginning. It was on its third repeat but I remained calm and relaxed.

The area of the surgery was above my top front teeth. I was told to expect bruising all the way up to my eyes. Well, I do have bruising right below my nose and below but certainly not as extensive as I was told to expect.

It was so cool to offer my CD to the surgeon for his office and to have my offer accepted. A convert has been made !

Supplemental Hypnosis and Dental Surgery

Well... tomorrow morning I get to once again use supplemental hypnosis (or as the dental surgeon calls it "that THING" during my bone implant surgery. It will be done with local anesthesia and my special surgery hypnosis CD. I have it on my iPod so that it can repeat since the surgery will be around 1 1/2 hours. Besides not being out of it and placing my airway in some dental technicians hands while they are assisting the surgeon and not really paying attention to me 100% (since they are assisting the surgeon 100%) I will also save around $400.

Using Hypnosis for Cancer Patients regarding Sleeping and Pain

Trouble Sleeping Leads To Increased Ratings Of Pain In Cancer Patients, Study Suggests

(Apr. 19, 2009) — A new study suggests that sleep problems lead to increased pain and fatigue in cancer patients. The results indicate that interventions aimed at trouble sleeping would be expected to improve both pain and fatigue in this patient population.

Results show that more than half the sample reported having trouble sleeping, with 26 percent reporting moderate or severe trouble sleeping. Compared with patients who reported no trouble sleeping, patients with moderate to severe trouble sleeping reported significantly more fatigue, pain and depressed mood. Using structural equation modeling analysis to evaluate causal relations and directions of effect, the best-fitting model indicates that trouble sleeping led to increased ratings of pain.

"We believed we would find a bi-directional relationship between insomnia and pain, but instead found that trouble sleeping was more likely a cause, rather than a consequence, of pain in patients with cancer," said lead author Edward J. Stepanski, chief operational officer at the Accelerated Community Oncology Research Network in Memphis, Tenn.

The study included demographic, clinical and patient-reported outcomes data from 11,445 cancer patients undergoing treatment at the West Clinic, a large community oncology practice in Memphis. Participants had an average age of 61.5 years, and 74 percent were female. Breast cancer was the most common form of cancer, and about 25 percent of study subjects had received chemotherapy in the last 30 days. Increases in depressed mood also led to increased ratings of pain.

Younger age and recent administration of chemotherapy were both associated with increased trouble sleeping. According to the authors, younger patients often receive more aggressive chemotherapy than older patients; therefore, younger patients may be exposed to more treatment-related toxicity.

Stepanski stated that studies have shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) improves sleep in cancer patients who have insomnia. He believes that this type of intervention may decrease patients' pain and fatigue by improving their sleep.

Here is again an indication for the modality of hypnosis as far as I am concerned. We hypnotist have so many areas where we can help this patient population, whether with pain, emotional issues, time distortion during chemo or radiation, nausea, pain, images of healing and future freedom from disease and yes ...sleeping.

---

Journal reference:

1. . The Relation of Trouble Sleeping, Depressed Mood, Pain, and Fatigue in Patients with Cancer. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, April 15, 2009

Hypnosis and Smoking Cessation

 The smoker first needs to understand certain concepts; the role of rationalization, the power of wholehearted subconscious beliefs, how brainwashing affects them, and that stopping smoking is only as hard as they believe it will be. What we expect is what we get. 

Imagination and Hypnosis

Below is a study regarding the reality of the imagination having a real effect. We as hypnotists have always known this. It is nice to see a study showing the effectiveness of our internal mind.

Power Of Imagination Is More Than Just A Metaphor

(Apr. 15, 2009) — We've heard it before: "Imagine yourself passing the exam or scoring a goal and it will happen." We may roll our eyes and think that's easier said than done, but in a new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologists Christopher Davoli and Richard Abrams from Washington University suggest that the imagination may be more effective than we think in helping us reach our goals.

A group of students searched visual displays for specific letters (which were scattered among other letters serving as distractors) and identified them as quickly as possible by pressing a button. While performing this task, the students were asked to either imagine themselves holding the display monitor with both hands or with their hands behind their backs (it was emphasized that they were not to assume those poses, but just imagine them).

The results showed that simply imagining a posture may have effects that are similar to actually assuming the pose. The participants spent more time searching the display when they imagined themselves holding the monitor, compared to when they imagined themselves with their hands behind their backs. The researchers suggest that the slower rate of searching indicates a more thorough analysis of items closer to the hands. Previous research has shown that we spend more time looking at items close to our hands (items close to us are usually more important than those further away), but this is the first study suggesting that merely imagining something close to our hands will cause us to pay more attention to it.

The researchers suggest these findings indicate that our "peripersonal space" (the space around our body) can be extended into a space where an imagined posture would take us. They note there may be advantages to having this ability, such as determining if an action is realistic (e.g., "Can I reach the top shelf?") and helping us to avoid collisions. The authors conclude that the present study confirms "an idea that has long been espoused by motivational speakers, sports psychologists, and John Lennon alike: The imagination has the extraordinary capacity to shape reality."

Journal reference:

. Reaching Out With the Imagination. Psychological Science, (in press)
Adapted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.


Association for Psychological Science (2009, April 15). Power Of Imagination Is More Than Just A Metaphor.

The Recession, Health and Using Hypnosis

Abc news just had a video talking about the recession and the various health ailments it is spurring such as teeth grinding, high blood pressure, insomnia, smoking, weight gain to name just a few. The link is below

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=12925196

These are all areas that we hypnotists are skilled at in helping our clients to overcome.

Oprah Mentions Using Hypnosis for the Stress of the Economy

Oprah.com mentions in her article about how to deal with the money anxiety that is happening from the stress of the downturn in the economy, As a matter of fact, it is the first thing that is mentioned !!

"Get hypnotized. For years people have turned to hypnosis for help quitting smoking and losing weight, but the technique is also becoming popular among business types desperate to overcome financial stress, according to a November report in The Wall Street Journal. Generally, in hypnosis, a therapist uses verbal cues to put clients into a deeply relaxed state, where they become absorbed in their inner thoughts, then offers suggestions to shift an attitude so they can better tackle a problem. In this case, the suggestions might be "Money is energy that comes and goes" or "Your net worth doesn't equal your personal worth," to deflect the paralysis and insecurity that financial panic can cause. Ideally, clients learn the process on their own.

"Hypnosis is very similar to meditation," explains Dwight Damon, president of the National Guild of Hypnotists, who recommends trying a professional session before using the method on yourself. "While it won't make you richer, it will help you handle, and feel better about, the money you do have." "

The good thing about hypnosis is that it can be done on the telephone with a headset that has a microphone right in front of the mouth since volume of the voice is lower when in trance. This allow the hypnotist to hear the sound of your breathing as a way to judge your level of trance and also to ask questions and hear the responses.

Feel free to contact me at sethdeborah@HynotherapyforHealth.com to set up a telephone session.

Interesting Pain Research that Hypnosists Have Known

research carried out by G Lorimer Moseley.

The secret to solving physical aches may lie in using a pair of binoculars the wrong way round, claims research performed at Oxford University.

The study, published in Current Biology, reveals how powerfully pain and even swelling can be a product of our mental attitude.

Researchers asked ten people who suffered chronic pain in one arm to move the limb around while looking at it through a pair of binoculars that were either the right or wrong way round;

When they saw their arm magnified to double its size, the patients reported that their levels of pain increased, but when they exercised the arm while watching a minimised image of it through
inverted binoculars, their pain levels were cut significantly.

Their levels of physical swelling in the affected areas were also reduced through using the backwards binocular trick.

Moseley says he is not sure how this phenomenon works in terms of specific neurons firing, but he believes that The brain changes its protective responses according to its perception of danger levels. if it looks bigger, it looks sorer, therefore the brain acts to protect it,” he explains.

In effect, the binocular trick offers a much simpler and cheaper version of a pain-lowering brain-scan.

We as hypnotists, have always known about the power of our mind to make physical real changes.

Moseley hopes that the optical-trick discovery will lead to a practical method for lowering pain and trauma levels in hospitals.

Hypnosis according to the Mayo Clinic

Who is hypnosis for?
Hypnotherapy has the potential to help relieve the symptoms of a wide variety of diseases and conditions. It can be used independently or along with other treatments. For example, it's one of several relaxation methods for treating chronic pain that has been approved by an independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health.

According to preliminary studies, hypnotherapy may be used to:

Change negative behaviors, such as smoking, bed-wetting and overeating
Reduce or eliminate fears, stress and anxiety
Treat pain during childbirth and reduce labor time
Control pain during dental and surgical procedures
Relieve symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Lower blood pressure
Control nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy
Reduce the intensity or frequency of headaches, including migraines
Treat and ease the symptoms of asthma
Hasten the healing of some skin diseases, including warts, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis

Hypnosis and the Power of Verbs

We as hypnotists have long known about the power of our language and have learnt to be very exact in the verbs we use and the behavior that happens because of the state of the verb being used. Here is a study regarding verb power.


What I Was Doing Vs. What I Did: How Verb Aspect Influences Memory And Behavior

(Mar. 13, 2009) — If you want to perform at your peak, you should carefully consider how you discuss your past actions. In a new study in Psychological Science, psychologists William Hart of the University of Florida and Dolores Albarraca n from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reveal that the way a statement is phrased (and specifically, how the verbs are used), affects our memory of an event being described and may also influence our behavior.

In these experiments, a group of volunteers were interrupted prior to finishing a word game and were then asked to describe their behavior using the imperfective (e.g., I was solving word puzzles) or perfective (e.g., I solved word puzzles) aspect. The volunteers then completed a memory test (for the word game) or a word game which was similar to the first one they had worked on.

It turns out, the volunteers who had described their behavior using the imperfective aspect were able to recall more specific details of their experience compared to volunteers who had described their behavior in the perfective aspect. The volunteers writing in the imperfective aspect also performed better on the second word game and were more willing to complete the task than did volunteers who used the perfective to describe their experience.

The authors surmise that when we think about our past behavior in the imperfective (e.g. what we were doing), we tend to imagine that behavior as ongoing (and not completed yet). This enables us to easily think about what went into that behavior and may help us improve performance on similar tasks in the future.

The authors note that these findings may be relevant to behavioral therapy. They suggest that "decreasing the frequency of unhealthy behaviors might be facilitated by discussing these behaviors in terms of what I did. In contrast, increasing the frequency of healthy behaviors might be facilitated by discussing these behaviors in terms of what I was doing."

Association for Psychological Science (2009, March 13). What I Was Doing Vs. What I Did: How Verb Aspect Influences Memory And Behavior.

Interesting study for Hypnosis Practitioners who work with IBS clients

A Promising Study

Promising Target To Treat Chronic Abdominal Pain

 (Mar. 7, 2009) — High levels of a protein linked to the way pain signals are sent to the brain led to a decrease in abdominal pain in a recent study in mice.

Researchers say the finding suggests the protein might someday serve as the basis of new treatments for chronic pain associated with a number of bowel disorders.

The scientists at Ohio State University found that nearly twice the normal amount of this protein, called EAAT2, or excitatory amino acid transporter 2, decreased what is called visceral pain, or pain from internal organs, in mice.

The protein acts on glutamate, an amino acid and neurotransmitter that sends signals to the brain that produce pain. The researchers found that a high level of EAAT2 appears to force glutamate into cells, preventing it from interacting with receptors that enable it to send the pain signals.

Though the researchers understand what EAAT2 does, there is still more to learn about the location of its activity and the complete mechanism behind the protein’s role. But they are hopeful about the protein’s potential to treat the pain caused by a variety of gastrointestinal disorders suffered by millions of Americans.

The most common condition is irritable bowel syndrome, a disorder characterized by cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. Experts estimate IBS affects between 10 percent and 20 percent of the U.S. population.

Visceral pain in bowel disorders is often difficult to treat because there is no clear structural problem or disease process to remedy, said Robert Stephens, associate professor of physiology and cell biology at Ohio State and senior author of the study.

“The question is, why does this unexplained pain exist? Pain usually signals something is wrong. But this functional pain is chronic pain without a reason. It is pain that makes people miss work and it’s pain that is associated with depression. That’s why we really want to get at it with these therapies,” Stephens said.

The research is published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

Stephens and colleagues tested the effects of higher-than-normal levels of EAAT2 in two different types of mice. They used mice genetically engineered to produce an excess of the protein as well as normal mice that were treated with an antibiotic already known to generate extra EAAT2 in the body. The transgenic mice had about twice the normal level of EAAT2, and those treated with the drug produced between 40 percent and 80 percent more of the protein than would a normal mouse.

Both the transgenic mice and mice treated with the antibiotic that increases EAAT2 experienced less pain than did control mice that had normal levels of EAAT2 in their system. In both types of mice with elevated levels of EAAT2, the pain response was reduced by approximately 50 percent to 70 percent compared to the pain levels in normal mice.

To further prove that EAAT2 was responsible for the reduced pain response, the scientists pretreated mice with dihydrokainate (DHK), a compound known to block the effects of that particular protein. The DHK significantly reversed the blunted pain response in mice with elevated levels of EAAT2.

Stephens said this approach appears to be effective for visceral pain only, and not for somatic pain, which is pain resulting from injuries to the skin, superficial tissues or muscles and bones.

The transgenic mice engineered to contain higher-than-normal levels of the protein are otherwise healthy. Stephens said that observation, combined with the fact EAAT2 does not affect somatic pain, suggest the protein is a good candidate for a therapy specifically designed to treat visceral pain.

“The drugs we have now aren’t good. Really, all that’s available is symptomatic treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. We just don’t understand enough about what has gone wrong in these patients,” he said.

The antibiotic ceftriaxone used in the study to increase EAAT2 levels may not be optimal IBS therapy because chronic antibiotic use could lead to bacterial resistance and overgrowth of other substances, such as yeast, Stephens said. However, this drug is now in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Stephens is collaborating with other investigators who are studying compounds that have the same effect as the antibiotic in elevating EAAT2. Researchers also are exploring the use of inactive viruses to administer the protein as a therapy. With these methods, viruses are engineered to maintain their invasive abilities without causing an infection, and serve as a delivery system for a therapeutic agent.

The scientists next plan to find out where these key interactions between EAAT2 and glutamate occur. Glutamate is present throughout the body, but Stephens and colleagues believe the spinal cord is the most likely site of action for blunting the pain response.

This research was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Coauthors are Chien-liang Glenn Lin, Yuan Lin and Guilian Tian of the Department of Neuroscience; Kenny Roman and Chalonda Handy of the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology; and Joseph Travers of the Department of Oral Biology, all at Ohio State.



Ohio State University (2009, March 7). Promising Target To Treat Chronic Abdominal Pain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/03/090302133214.htm

Hypnosis and Visualization

Visualization research has shown that there is a strong scientific basis for how and why visualization works.

We stimulate the same brain regions when we visualize an action as when we actually perform that same action. For example, when you visualize lifting your left leg, it stimulates the same part of the brain that is activated when you actually lift your left leg. This shared area of brain activation when we imagine an action and perform it has been demonstrated extensively in the scientific literature. A striking example of how visualization increases brain activation is seen in stroke.

When a person has a stroke (which is due to a blood clot in a brain artery), blood cannot reach the tissue with oxygen and nutrients, and that tissue dies. Tissue death then spreads to the surrounding area because it does not receive the blood supply anymore. However, if a person with this stroke imagines moving the affected arm or leg, brain blood flow to the affected area increases and the surrounding brain tissue is saved. Imagining moving a limb, even after it has been paralyzed after a stroke, increases brain blood flow enough to diminish the amount of tissue death. This is a very clear indicator of the power of visualization.

Athletes have been using hypnosis and visualization for a long time.

Studies have shown that athletes first imagine running the race in the goal time in as much detail as possible and are then able to execute it after practicing visualizing this. One study showed that "...visualizations under hypnosis enabled nationally ranked Stanford male gymnasts to execute for the first time several complex tricks that they had been working on for over a year. The gymnasts were able to eliminate timing errors in the tricks, to increase flexibility, and, possibly, to concentrate strength..." Another study showed that youth soccer players increased their confidence in playing when they visualized their moves. Visualization has also been shown to improve high jumpers clearing the bar.

"...visualizations under hypnosis enabled nationally ranked Stanford male gymnasts to execute for the first time several complex tricks that they had been working on for over a year..." Hypnosis works because it helps in decreasing anxiety and increasing focus.

"...youth soccer players increased their confidence in playing when they visualized their moves..." Visualization of your goals helps to increase your confidence.

Hypnosis and Surgery

Yahoo.

Just sold my first international sale via Facebook.

It is my 2CD set for a Smoother Surgical Experience.
The first CD has to do with pre-op, intra-op and post-op visualizations and the second CD is designed specifically for use during surgery whether under local anesthesia or general anesthesia. Hearing is the last sense to go and there have been people who even under general anesthesia recall what was said in the operating room

I use my experience as a Nurse Anesthetist and former operating room nurse to phase all the suggestions in just the right way.

Self tested during 4 of my own surgeries (heh heh)

The CD set is on my web site at www.hypnotherapyforhealth.com

Hypnosis for Anger and the Heart

Here is an article to help support the use of hypnosis as a tool to help let go of anger.

An Angry Heart Can Lead To Sudden Death
ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2009) — Before flying off the handle the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, consider the latest research that links changes brought on by anger or other strong emotions to future arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrests, which are blamed for 400,000 deaths annually.

New research published in the March 3, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that anger-induced electrical changes in the heart can predict future arrhythmias in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs).
While previous studies have demonstrated an increased incidence of sudden cardiac death during times of population stress such as earthquake and war, this study provides the first evidence that changes brought on by anger and other strong emotions can predict arrhythmias and may link mental stress to sudden cardiac arrest--which accounts for over 400,000 deaths each year.

"It's an important study because we are beginning to understand how anger and other types of mental stress can trigger potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias, especially among patients with structural heart abnormalities," says Rachel Lampert, M.D., F.A.C.C., associate professor, Yale University School of Medicine.

Researchers studied 62 patients with ICDs who underwent monitoring during a mental stress test. Patients who had coronary artery disease or dilated cardiomyopathy (a condition in which the heart muscle are enlarged) and a standard indication for ICD were recruited from the Yale Electrophysiology practice. The mental stress test, conducted in a laboratory setting shortly after ICD implantation (about 3 months), asked patients to recall a recent situation in which they were angry or aggravated. T-wave alternans (TWA), a measure of the heart's electrical stability, was analyzed during this test. Researchers then followed patients for a mean of 37 months to determine which had arrhythmias requiring termination by the ICD.
"We know strong emotion increases sympathetic arousal," says Dr. Lampert. "In this study, we found patients with higher levels of anger-induced TWA were more likely to experience arrhythmias requiring ICD termination."

Patients with ICD-terminated arrhythmias during follow up (16%) had higher TWA induced by anger compared with those patients who did not have future arrhythmias. Even when other clinical factors that predispose patients to higher TWA levels and/or higher risk of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation were controlled for (e.g., heart failure or history of arrhythmia), anger-induced TWA remained a significant predictor of arrhythmias, which led to a heightened risk of up to ten times that of other patients.

The present study suggests that mental stress, namely anger, may be yet another pathway provoking arrhythmias.
"What remains unclear is how this new T-wave alternans test relates to traditional exercise TWA testing," according to Eric J. Rashba, M.D., professor of Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical Center. "It may be that combining exercise TWA tests with newer mental stress TWA tests may help clinicians better select patients likely to have arrhythmia and, in turn, benefit from a defibrillator; however, more study is needed."

In contrast to exercise, mental stress doesn't elevate one's heart rate much, suggesting that changes seen with mental stress may be due to a direct effect of adrenaline on the heart cells. Therefore, mental stress testing could provide an alternative to atrial pacing for patients unable to exercise, according to Dr. Lampert.

"More research is needed, but these data suggest that therapies focused on helping patients deal with anger and other negative emotions may help reduce arrhythmias and, therefore, sudden cardiac death in certain patients

Clinical Research on Hypnosis and Alopecia

Alopecia Areata is defined as a condition in which stress causes moderate to severe patches of hair loss on the scalp. Another form of Alopecia, known as Alopecia Universallis, is when complete hair loss affects the sufferer rendering them completely bald . A study was performed to test the effects ofhypnosis therapy on those suffering from Alopecia.

Subjects for this study included 28 people with severe Alopecia Areata for whom traditional treatment was ineffective. Twelve of the 21 participants showed significant improvement. This included 4 participants who had complete hair loss. Along with hypnosis therapy for hair re-growth, the participants were given therapy to help reduce stress. Details of exactly what procedures of hypnosis therapy were utilized were not divulged.  Alopecia Areata is said to be caused by an elevated level of stress, so it makes sense that exercises to reduce stress levels would have been beneficiary as well. All subjects who showed a significant improvement also noted a change in their stress level, anxiety, and a decreased level of depression.

The end result of this study showed that  hypnotherapy is beneficial for those suffering from hair loss, and can even improve the patients` conditions both physically and mentally.

Many people can identify that an increased level of stress can cause a higher chance of experiencing hair loss. For those suffering from Alopecia Areata, not only is the cause due to stress, but so are the side effects. Other than a physical discomfort, Alopecia Areata doesn`t affect any other parts of a person`s health, but the physical discomfort in a society obsessed with beauty is enough to cause even more severe distress. It`s a vicious circle that, for some, may never truly be healed with traditional medicine. This is where hypnotherapy comes in. Hypnotherapy is a holistic form of medicine that has been proven to show great improvements to a person`s health both from the inside and out.

Source:
Willemsen, R., & Vanderlinden, J. (2008, July). Hypnotic approaches for alopecia areata. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 56(3), 318-333. Retrieved January 22, 2009, doi:10.1080/00207140802041942

Warm Hello's,
Seth-Deborah

P.S. This study illustrates the power of hypnosis on the physical body.

To learn more and become certified in Medical Hypnosis I would like to remind you of my upcoming training in March 14 & 15 here in Oakland, California.

You'll learn about hypnosis in pain management, emergencies, irritable bowel, pre-, during- and after surgery, cancer treatment support, auto immune diseases, and simple everyday procedures and much more. You will be given an understanding of the basic physiology and biology behind medical hypnosis. You'll also learn how to market your services in this field.

For more info check out : http://www.hypnotherapycenter.com/work_main.html#Medhypno
call for more info 510-690-0699

Humor and your Health and Hypnosis

Did you know that humor relaxes?

Like any exercise, laughing relaxes you, and works against chronic stress. Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., a heart surgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and often seen on the Oprah Show, tells why this is so in a “Reader’s Digest” article:

When you push any engine, including your body, to its maximum, every once in a while it slips a gear. The ways the body manifests that are: irregular heartbeats, high blood pressure, and increased sensitivity to pain. When people use humor, the autonomic nervous system just tones down a bit to take it off high gear, and that allows the heart to relax."

If we as hypnosis experts can help our clients to develop a choice to look at laugh with a lighter funnier outlook, imagine how we can physically help them manage their stress levels and therefore their general health

Adding Isagenix to Weight Loss Hypnosis

I had unexpected dental surgery yesterday.

I had a dental implant but in last week using my self-hypnosis CD to supplement the local anesthesia instead of being sedated by IV medication. Saved $400 also this way.

Went for post op check and the dental implant that was put in was loose so it had to be removed that day with some bone added. Used my self hypnosis techniques without the CD as I normally don't carry it around with me and the decision for the surgery in the next hour was made right then.

I have been on a new Nutritional program called "Isagenix" for the past month. It includes a 2 day cleanse every 9 days when you are releasing weight.

I decided, hour by hour,instead of comforting myself with comfort soft foods, to stay on the two day Isagenix cleanse, as it was my second day. Got on scale this morning, after 2 Isagenix Cleanse days, and have now lost a total of 10 lbs in a healthy way in 4 weeks. I have energy and feel great!!!

This is truly a wonderful product to add to the tool of Hypnosis for weight loss. It has helped me take off this menopause weight which has been a challenge the last 10 years. Hypnosis helps with the subconscious reasons and Isagenix helps with the brain chemicals and the nutritional needs of our body.

Check out www.sethdeborahroth.isagenix.com

Dental Surgery and Hypnosis

Hi all,

Home resting from my dental/jaw surgery this morning. It was a little bit more complicated than originally planned for so some extra work needed to be done. Had "my "Intra-op hypnosis CD playing and once again the doctor had to ask me how I was doing, as I was so quite.

The interesting thing is the Xylocaine wore off sooner than usual towards the end. Took myself to the beach on Hawaii and was "observing" the stitches going through the back of my gum with the pulling through of the silk thread. It worked, I became the "Hidden Observer" as Hilgard called it in his book , "Hypnosis in the Relief of Pain".

It dawned on me that he looses $400 on me every time we do surgery as I turn down the offer of office anesthesia. As an anesthetist, I know that the dental staff will be involved in the dental surgery and there will be no on involved in my anesthesia "only". I used to work as an anesthetist, for a few oral surgeons, so I am quite aware of what goes on behind the scenes in the dental surgery office. It is the only way to go as far as I am concerned.

I had some unexpected good news this evening, as I am resting from the surgery, I got selected as the member of the monthe from www.freehypnosiscommunity.com.


Tranced Out News: February Member of the Month, and a Call to Action


For February, our member of the month is Seth-Deborah Roth.



Seth-Deborah is a Certified Instructor and faculty member of the National Guild of Hypnotists. A Nurse Anesthetist and medical hypnosis instructor for a nearby center, she runs a clinical hypnosis practice near San Francisco known as "Hypnotherapy for Health,". Her work has even been featured on the Discovery Channel.

Here's to using more of hypnosis during dental procedures.

Medical Hypnosis at the National Guild of Hypnosis

I want to let my readers know about some good news.

I have just been notified that two (2) of my medical hypnosis presentations have been accepted by the National Guild of Hypnosis 2009 convention.

One is an hour presentation about "Simple Medical Hypnosis" for medical settings and emergencies and such,

The second two hour presentation is on Medical Hypnosis, including the physiology of how it works and the medical applications of hypnosis.

Don't forget I will also be presenting at the "Solid Gold" meeting of the National Guild of Hypnosis in Las Vegas again regarding medical hypnosis.

Hypnosis for the Elderly Patient

Belgium's Queen Fabiola is 80 years old. She had surgery to correct a thyroid problem earlier this month .

The wife of the late King Baudouin, elected to be sedated using hypnosis instead of general anaesthetic during her recent surgery.

University Hospital of Liege is famous for "hypnosedation". The method is usually used on older patients who are "more fragile" and therefore more vulnerable to the side-effects of a general anaesthetic.
The hospital in Liege has carried out more than 4,000 operations using the technique.
The surgery went well and the queen was allowed home three days later.

It is interesting to note that the queen was a hospital nurse in the 1950's.

Yes, the word is spreading about hypnosis during surgery.

World Hypnotism Day

One of the benefits of having done "World Hypnotism Day" before. The local newspaper called me to ask if I was doing it again this year. We chatted on the phone. Rapport, rapport rapport. Story to run on Saturday.

Using EFT in a Dream after Hypnosis Session

I just have to share this with everyone !!

I taught EFT on my first session with a client as I always do. She came back yesterday for a follow up session and reported that she had a dream during the week. She couldn't really remember too much about the specific problem except, that she was doing EFT as a way of dealing with it.

I thought it so cool that a client was solving a problem with EFT in her dreams.

Enhanced Healing with Hypnosis

Hi everyone,

Wanted to let everyone know that my healing process is a month early !!! My second stage dental surgery is scheduled for February 1st instead of March. Guess that Healing Hypnosis CD worked (heh heh).

Dyslexia and Hypnosis

Today I had a very interesting phenomenon happen with a client. This client is in her 50's and has a lifetime history of dyslexia and ADHD. She is on Ritalin and it seems to be working for her. She came to me for pain control and weight loss.

After our pre-talk, she lay down on the massage table (with a foam rubber egg crate underneath the sheet). I keep this set up in my office for the many people who come to me with pain issues as sometimes, lying down is the only comfortable position for them where they can truly let their muscle tensions release. I set the big teddy bear (named "Trance Bear") upside down under her knees to keep her in "neutral" back position.

Here is where the interesting thing happened!! After a quick and easily entered Elman induction I started inducing glove anesthesia to her left hand. Her right hand got cold and numb when in hypnosis although the left hand was directed to get numb. No problem once she mentioned it. I just said "Yes, that's right" now transfer that numbness with a river of anesthesia to your foot (which is where here pain was today).

The hypnosis session went well with her foot still being comfortable upon emerging. Interesting indeed!!

Insomnia and Hypnosis

Today I had a client with lifetime insomnia.

To make a long story short, upon regression to the FEELING of "frustration" he has right before he can't get to sleep he went back to being 8-9 years old and he had seen a scary movie and couldn't sleep. With different techniques, one can speak to the subconscious mind to release the limiting decision to take on the insomnia. I have the client dissociate and I ask the conscious mind if it is okay with the conscious mind to get the "Empowering Positive Learnings" so he can let go of the limiting decision to ________"(whatever it is).

I added Debbie Papadakis's technique of seeing the clock go forward in time and getting sleepy at the needed time , sleeping all through the night (with clock going forward and waking up at the needed time as clock reaches the appropriate time.

It never ceases to amaze me that we take on aspects at that subconscious level that stay with us our whole lives. Hypnosis can help so quickly !!

A little future pacing and testing and you have helped to change somebody's life.

Dental Surgery and Hypnosis

I got the opportunity to use my Intra-op hypnosis CD today during some dental surgery.

The staff were so accustomed to people having I.V. Versed and a narcotic that they looked absolutely dumbfounded when I just got out of the chair and put on my coat and walked out after the surgery was done.

As a Nurse Anesthetist, I am absolutely dumbfounded that there is no anesthesia trained person there during dental surgery when a person has I.V. anesthesia on board. You have a dentist and a dental assistant and that's it. What would happen (and sometimes does) when somebody goes too deep. Airways can be compromised, respirations can stop etc.

It seems so easy to use supplemental hypnosis and local anesthesia. And it is safe!!

Dental Surgery and Hypnosis

Okay this is getting silly already!!! Tell the universe "I don't need anymore surgeries to have me practice how to use self-hypnosis!"

Broken root of front tooth leads me to needing tooth extraction on December 1st. I have turned down I.V. anesthesia and will save $400 also.

For All Coaches and their Clients

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My partners consist of multi-millionaires and billionaires, and are some of the world's most superior teachers, speakers, trainers, mentors and advisors on the planet. Maybe you have heard of them.... Brian Tracy, Jim Cathcart, Dr. Tony Alessandra, Dolf deRoos, Bob Proctor, Sandy Botkin, Esq., Dan Clark, Kevin Carroll, Patricia Fripp, Tom Ferry, Leslie Householder, Debbie Allen, Ivan Misner, Mark Victor Hansen,and John Gray .... just to name a few.

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Pain Management with Hypnosis Certification

Can you believe it is November already !!

Looking for a way to increase your practice and to get more clients and referrals?? (especially in todays economy !)

People with pain issues are looking for ways to stop the suffering. Doctors are at a loss of what do to for these patients.

I hold this course only twice a year so this will be the last time this is offered in 2008.

So take action and sign up and get certified in Pain Management with Hypnosis



Certified Hypnotherapist, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
and Certified Medical Hypnotherapist
Saturday & Sunday, November 22-23, 2008 9:30 to 5:30
At the Center for Hypnotherapy, 3645 Grand Avenue, Oakland CA
Come to an enlightening, educational two day workshop focusing on the uses of hypnosis and hypnotic techniques for pain management. Earn 16 continuing education units acceptable for the National Guild of Hypnotists, the Board of Registered Nursing, and more.

Here is your opening to a successful pain management hypnosis practice. This course will help you to establish yourself as a part of a multi-disciplinary pain management team!

The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has set standards for the assessment of pain. It recommends that alternative non-pharmacological methods for pain management be used by all hospitals

This training gives you the ability to:
Help your clients to overcome chronic pain.
Increase the profitability of your practice by adding pain management.
Become the specialist in your area in the management of pain.
Develop a referral relationship with physicians and other healing professionals.
Understand how pain affects over a third of the population in the U.S. and is a leading cause of missed work and billions of dollars lost in productivity at the workplace.
Objectives of this workshop:
Give you a basic understanding of pain, its physiology and theories
Understand the client or patient in pain
Learn and demonstrate the skills and various techniques for preventing, reducing and removing pain and when to use which technique
Learn what you can handle in your pain control practice
Understand protocol for chronic pain management sessions
Find out how to get those medical referrals
Techniques you'll learn:
Waking Hypnosis including Reverse Spin
Glove Anesthesia
Light Switch
Dissociated Hand
Esdaille State
Parts Therapy for chronic pain/secondary gain
Rapid Inductions, Touch Hypnosis
You'll see demonstrations and hear anecdotal case studies.
You'll do hands on practice to give you experience in the various techniques.

You will learn various methods of hypnotic induction, formulating hypnotic suggestions for decreasing or removing symptoms, and metaphorical guidelines with goal setting and treatment planning.

You can immediately apply these skills in your hypnotherapy, nursing, or other practice.

Who is this training for?
This training is for all who have an interest in pain management: hypnotherapists, nurses, and others. You'll become a Certified Hypnosis Pain Management Practitioner if you're a hypnotherapist. Nurses will receive a Pain Management Certificate of Completion.

About Seth-Deborah Roth

Seth-Deborah Roth, CRNA, RN, CI (c) NBCCH, Cht. has had many years of experience in the medical field as a Nurse Anesthetist. She graduated from The Hypnotherapy Center in August of 2000. After graduation, she received master's certifications in NLP and Reiki, and she became a practitioner in Time Line Therapy and HypnoBirthing. She has also been certified with special training in Pain Control, Cancer Hypnosis, Medical Hypnosis, Pediatric Hypnosis, Habit Control and Weight Loss. Her practice "Hypnotherapy for Health" is located in both Castro Valley and Pleasanton, CA, where she specializes in Medical Hypnosis. She has been a speaker at conferences and on the radio. She produces hypnosis CDs and specializes in customizing CDs for different medical issues or surgical procedures. For more information please go to her web site at www.hypnotherapyforhealth.com or browse her blog at http://hypnotichealth.blogspot.com

She appeared on Discovery Channel's "Myth Busters." She specializes in Complementary Medical Hypnosis - chronic pain, pre-op intra-op and post-op support, IBS, insomnia, weight loss and stop smoking, stress management, Hypnosis for Childbirth, and she is an instructor at the Center for Hypnotherapy in Oakland, CA.

Logistics and Fees
Saturday & Sunday, November 22 & 23, 2008, 9:30 to 5:30 at the Center for Healing and Transformation, 3645 Grand Ave. Suite 205, Oakland CA. Fee: $275 in advance, $300 at the door. Can be paid in full or by installments. Credit cards accepted. You can send a $50 deposit, pay in full, or pay at the door. Receive 16 CEUs if you're a nurse or hypnotherapist.

Special: Get a discount of $15 for each person you bring!
How to Enroll
You can go to our secure online enrollment form - and you can pay online at www.hypnotherapycenter.com. Or, you can email us atmgordon@hypnotherapycenter.com. Tell us it's for the "Pain Management With Hypnosis" workshop. Please include your name, address and phone. Also let us know how you found out about the workshop. You can also call us at (510) 839-4800 or 1(800) 398-0034. If you'd like to write (and if you'd like to send your fee), you can write to Marilyn Gordon, PO Box 10795, Oakland CA 94610. Or go to hypnotherapyforhealth.com

THIS INSTRUCTOR HAS RECEIVED RAVE REVIEWS IN PAST WORKSHOPS!
This is the Medical Hypnotherapy Workshop I'd been waiting for! Very practical and well organized." RR.
I loved it! It was excellent, and the handouts are great." MB
This workshop completely satisfied my goal of becoming more informed about the medical context for hypnotherapy." MC
Excellent course - very well thought out and thorough. Seth has a tremendous wealth of knowledge. The information flowed easily" JG
Great workshop. I felt full of wonder, excitement, and hope. It was very inspirational, and the group dynamic was very special. Seth was full of real-life experience, compassion, knowledge and joy." JL
Very positive, very informative! Seth's warm caring manner filled our classroom with love and joy." DS
A+++. Excellent. Went beyond my expectations." (Anon.)

Hypnosis During My Surgery

I would like to share my post operative course of events with the group. Had my epi-gastric hernia repair surgery on October 3rd.

Listened to my pre-surgery CD beforehand and in the holding area of the surgery center. Listened to my CD during the surgery that was done with local anesthesia.


One week after the surgery, at the post-op visit, I was told it would take around 8-12 weeks (that would put me in mid-December) for the wound and the mesh graft to heal and the serous fluid and puffiness and dimpling of the wound to go away. I had a very uncomfortable tight feeling and could feel the mesh and was almost regretting that I had ever done the surgery. The surgery site looked as herniated as before the surgery.

Well, it is November 1st and I am fine!! Way earlier than 8-12 weeks! The fluid is gone and the incision looks amazingly healed!

I believe that when we are conscious during the surgery, and are in a self-loving and self-healing mode, that our bodies will respond in a healing mode.

Exclusive Invitation for Hypnosis Practitioners and Coaches

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A Continuous Learning Internet Tool for Your Hypnosis Clients

I am attending the pre-launch founders meeting of the most exciting continuous learning internet company!!!

It is in its beta pre-launch stage, and it is called iLearningGlobal. It's a company whose goal is to provide information, via new technology video and audio, by the top names in personal growth (for example, Harv Ecker, Bob Proctor, Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, and John Gray). No gas or hotel to pay or travel time - it's all online for you to learn at your pace, in your time!

And in addition, you can even make money with it if you choose to do so. And if you know Harv Ecker's involved, then he believes that there's great income potential!

It is an affiliate program yes, which I normally stay away from, but it has 24/7 access of self-learning tools of the the best out there it is something that I RELLY believe in and CAN and WILL use.
Take a look at not only www.ilearningglobal.biz/SethDeborah but also the general site www.ilearningglobal.tv

I was lucky enough to get in on the ground level because of my association with John Gray. If you work with people who want to better themselves in any area than this is a great thing to offer them.

They say that what makes the top achievers are that they are continuously learning new critical skills. These skills are learnable. I am so excited to be involved in something that I can believe in and not just a way to make money. Money is good, don't get me wrong, but I am not one to "sell ice to Eskimos", it just goes against my grain.

Getting Hypnosis Referrals for Weight Management

Here is some recent info to present to docs as a way to get more referrals for weight management.
Analysis of data from two national health studies has revealed that more Americans than ever before have high blood pressure.

Researchers compared data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, between 1988 and 1994, with that obtained from 1999–2004 of the current study. Results showed that the prevalence of high blood pressure, rose from 24.4% in 1988-1994 to 28.9% in 1999-2004. More interesting is that the researchers add that, depending on race and gender, between one and four fifths of the increase is attributable to increasing body mass index.

Dr. Theodore A Kotchen, , Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, writes: “From both population and patient care perspectives, the analysis of Cutler et al provides added impetus for preventing obesity and encouraging weight loss for the overweight as strategies for hypertension prevention. This is particularly relevant because the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased several-fold in the past decade.”

Source:
Cutler JA, Sorlie PD, Wolz M, Thom T, Fields LE, Roccella EJ. Trends in hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates in united states adults between 1988–1994 and 1999–2004. Hypertension 2008; doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.108.113357

Kotchen TA. Obesity-related hypertension? weighing the evidence (editorial). Hypertension 2008;doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.108.120915

Hypnosis Weight Loss Clients

Some latest research brings up the subject matter of portion size in early childhood and how it affects our children and their decisions later in life of how much food is enough. We as hypnotists encounter this issue when not only dealing children who are having portion size conflicts but also with adults who want to release old habits.

Below is an article regarding the latest research showing how environment affects us and our decisions on how much a portion is.

How Are Children Choosing Their Food Portions?

ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2008) — At dinner time, parents will often tell their child to clean their plate. However, that old maxim might lead kids to eat more than they need, especially when portions are adult-sized or supersized.

In findings to be presented at The Obesity Society's Annual Meeting on Oct. 7, children took more food when larger portions were made available to them.

Jennifer Fisher, Ph.D., associate professor of public health and researcher at the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University, and her research team observed 61 children between five and six years old to determine their eating habits when normal entrée portions (275 g) and "super-sized" entrée portions (550g) were offered. The children used either teaspoons or tablespoons to serve themselves.

They found that while children served themselves larger portions when the super-sized meal was available, portion sizes varied by gender, ethnicity, and parents' reports of child feeding practices — all environmental influences on children's eating behavior.

Fisher theorizes that having large amounts of food available conveys a social expectation about portion size that condones larger self-served portions.

"Seeing a large amount of food in front of you can lead you to believe that someone decided this portion was the right amount to eat," she said. "These results suggest that children take cues from their eating environments when deciding how much is enough."

There currently is very little research on what factors affect children's eating habits, but Fisher's team hopes to pinpoint some of these factors to determine how children's eating patterns develop, which could help stave off unhealthy relationships with food later on in life.

"We are interested in the cues that children take from their eating environments when serving themselves," said Fisher. "Many questions about children's eating habits are as yet unanswered, such as whether large quantities of food and large utensils prompt children to eat more or if the size of children's self-served portions influences their caloric intake."

Fisher and her team are currently exploring a number of different avenues to determine the association between the amount of food children are served and the amount they're actually eating.

"Our goal is to try to identify ways to promote healthful choices from an early age," she said. "We want children to grow up with good eating habits, and without having to struggle with food issues into adulthood."

Other authors on this study include Michael A. Grusak, Ph.D, and Sheryl O. Hughes, Ph.D, of the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, and Leann L. Birch of the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Penn State University. Funding for this research was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Hypnosis: The Mind and Disease

Never ceases to amaze me how the subconscious mind is involved in physical disease.
Last night, I had a gentleman client come to me with anxiety over an upcoming possible sinus surgery for over 4 weeks of sinus infection and pain. Upon consultation, I received a negative that anything was going on in his life before the beginning of symptoms and no previous history of sinus problems. In trance, we discovered he was feeling "pressure" from the need to financially secure his three young daughters college education right before he got symptoms in his sinuses. Upon emergence from trance, he remembered that as a young man, he once had a tightening around his upper nose area when he felt pressure from his dad to secure a good job after college and a future for himself and any future family.

Hypnosis during and Epigastric Hernia Repair

I am having surgery this morning, for a repair of an epigastric hernia. I will be using my own CD pack for surgery. I have been listening to the pre-operative CD for a few days now and will be listening to the same CD in the holding area where they take blood, start my I.V. and take a pre-op EKG. During the surgery, I will be listening to my intra-operative  CD during the surgery which will be done under local anesthesia. I have my CD player and earbuds all ready to go.

It will be interesting to see everyone's reaction in the O.R., as this is an O.R. where I have given one of my in-service talks, to the nurses, about hypnosis.

Article on: IBS responds to Hypnosis

I thought I would share this article with you from the University of Manchester

It is from the Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2008 Jun;64(6):621- 3. Epub 2008 Apr 28. Links.

The word colonic refers to the bowel.

Here is even more information to share with the doctors so that they will refer to the hypnotherapist.

Hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: the response of colonic and noncolonic symptoms.


Whorwell PJ.
University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. peter.whorwell@ manchseter. ac.uk

There is now good evidence that hypnotherapy benefits a substantial proportion of patients
with irritable bowel syndrome and that improvement is maintained for many years. Most
patients seen in secondary care with this condition also suffer from a wide range of
noncolonic symptoms such as backache and lethargy, as well as a number of
musculoskeletal, urological, and gynacological problems. These features do not typically
respond well to conventional medical treatment approaches, but fortunately, their intensity
is often reduced by hypnosis. The mechanisms by which hypnosis mediates its benefit are
not entirely clear, but there is evidence that, in addition to its psychological effects, it can
modulate gastrointestinal physiology, alter the central processing of noxious stimuli, and
even influence immune function.

Hypnosis and Arthritis

A wonderful study from the British Psychological Society that talks about hypnotherapy helping to get rid of the pain from arthritis.

It says:

"Arthritis sufferers can alleviate their pain by using mental imagery and hypnotherapy.

This is the finding of Bryan Bennett and colleagues from Bangor University who presented their findings on the September 11,2008, at The British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference held at the University of Bath."

Many people report high levels of pain even when taking prescription medication. A growing number of chronic sufferers turn to complementary and alternative medicines to lessen the main symptoms of pain and fatigue.

The effect of visualisation techniques and hypnotherapy was studied to see if they could help to reduce pain and fatigue, which affects these people from being able to enjoy a full and active life.

"Forty two patients were asked to visualise their pain in different ways and try to manage it. For example participants were asked to visualise their pain in the form of a person and then thank that person for letting them know something was not right. They would then ask the person to leave, visualising their image going further away, until the image was hardly visible and eventually disappearing, leaving them free of pain.

The results showed that these imagery techniques, and hypnotherapy, were effective at reducing the pain and fatigue caused by RA."

Pain Management Course with Hypnosis

Hi Everyone,

As I am preparing my two Powerpoint presentations for various hospitals this month, I realized I better put out there about my two day pain management workshop coming up in November because so many people have emailed me to announce it sooner so they can plan better to take the course.

Because of the success of PainWeek in Las Vegas, with a presentation by hypnotists,( Michael Ellner and Dan Cleary who started this all and did such a GREAT job), you will be finding that you can reach out to the medical community with greater success.

Be prepared for this change that is happening!

Gain the confidence and knowledge that you need!

So here is the announcement.........

Certified Hypnotherapist, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
and Certified Medical Hypnotherapist
Saturday & Sunday, November 22-23, 2008 9:30 to 5:30
At the Center for Hypnotherapy, 3645 Grand Avenue, Oakland CA

Come to an enlightening, educational two day workshop focusing on the uses of hypnosis and hypnotic techniques for pain management. Earn 16 continuing education units acceptable for the National Guild of Hypnotists, the Board of Registered Nursing, and more.

Here is your opening to a successful pain management hypnosis practice. This course will help you to establish yourself as a part of a multi-disciplinary pain management team!

The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has set standards for the assessment of pain. It recommends that alternative non-pharmacological methods for pain management be used by all hospitals

* This training gives you the ability to: Help your clients to overcome chronic pain.
* Increase the profitability of your practice by adding pain management.
* Become the specialist in your area in the management of pain.
* Develop a referral relationship with physicians and other healing professionals.
* Understand how pain affects over a third of the population in the U.S. and is a leading cause of missed work and billions of dollars lost in productivity at the workplace.

* Objectives of this workshop: Give you a basic understanding of pain, its physiology and theories
* Understand the client or patient in pain
* Learn and demonstrate the skills and various techniques for preventing, reducing and removing pain and when to use which technique
* Learn what you can handle in your pain control practice
* Understand protocol for chronic pain management sessions
* Find out how to get those medical referrals

* Techniques you'll learn: Waking Hypnosis including Reverse Spin
* Glove Anesthesia
* Light Switch
* Dissociated Hand
* Esdaille State
* Parts Therapy for chronic pain/secondary gain
* Rapid Inductions, Touch Hypnosis
* You'll see demonstrations and hear anecdotal case studies.

You'll do hands on practice to give you experience in the various techniques.

You will learn various methods of hypnotic induction, formulating hypnotic suggestions for decreasing or removing symptoms, and metaphorical guidelines with goal setting and treatment planning.

You can immediately apply these skills in your hypnotherapy, nursing, or other practice.
Who is this training for?

This training is for all who have an interest in pain management: hypnotherapists, nurses, and others. You'll become a Certified Hypnosis Pain Management Practitioner if you're a hypnotherapist and a certificate of completion if you are a nurse.
About Seth-Deborah Roth

Seth-Deborah Roth, CRNA,RN,NBCCH,Cht,CI. has had many years of experience in the medical field as a Nurse Anesthetist. She received master's certifications in NLP and Reiki, and she became a practitioner in Time Line Therapy and HypnoBirthing. She has also been certified with special training in Pain Control, Cancer Hypnosis, Medical Hypnosis, Pediatric Hypnosis, Habit Control and Weight Loss. Her practice "Hypnotherapy for Health" is located in both Castro Valley and Pleasanton, CA, where she specializes in Medical Hypnosis. She has been a speaker at conferences and on the radio. She produces hypnosis CDs and specializes in customizing CDs for different medical issues or surgical procedures. For more information please go to her web site at www.hypnotherapyforhealth.com or browse her blog at http://hypnotichealth.blogspot.com

She appeared on Discovery Channel's "Myth Busters." She specializes in Complementary Medical Hypnosis - chronic pain, pre-op intra-op and post-op support, IBS, insomnia, weight loss and stop smoking, stress management, Hypnosis for Childbirth, and she is an instructor at the Center for Hypnotherapy in Oakland, CA as well as being a Certified Inatructor with the NGH (National Guild of Hypnosis)
Logistics and Fees

Saturday & Sunday, November 22 & 23rd, 2008, 9:30 to 5:30 at the Center for Healing and Transformation, 3645 Grand Ave. Suite 205, Oakland CA. Fee: $275 in advance, $300 at the door. Can be paid in full or by installments. Credit cards accepted. You can send a $50 deposit, pay in full, or pay at the door. Receive CEUs if you're a nurse or hypnotherapist.
Special: Get a discount of $15 for each person you bring!
How to Enroll

You can go to our secure online enrollment form - and you can pay online at www.hypnotherapycenter.com. Or, you can email us at mgordon@hypnotherapycenter.com. Tell us it's for the "Pain Management With Hypnosis" workshop. Please include your name, address and phone. Also let us know how you found out about the workshop. You can also call us at (510) 839-4800 or 1(800) 398-0034. If you'd like to write (and if you'd like to send your fee), you can write to Marilyn Gordon, PO Box 10795, Oakland CA 94610.
THIS INSTRUCTOR HAS RECEIVED RAVE REVIEWS IN PAST WORKSHOPS!

* This is the Medical Hypnotherapy Workshop I'd been waiting for! Very practical and well organized." RR.
* I loved it! It was excellent, and the handouts are great." MB
* This workshop completely satisfied my goal of becoming more informed about the medical context for hypnotherapy." MC
* Excellent course - very well thought out and thorough. Seth has a tremendous wealth of knowledge. The information flowed easily" JG
* Great workshop. I felt full of wonder, excitement, and hope. It was very inspirational, and the group dynamic was very special. Seth was full of real-life experience, compassion, knowledge and joy." JL
* Very positive, very informative! Seth's warm caring manner filled our classroom with love and joy." DS
* A+++. Excellent. Went beyond my expectations." (Anon.)


Enrollment Form >> https://ssl.hypnotherapycenter.com/order/workshop_enroll.html

Hypnosis For Insomnia Can Help with Fibromyalgia

I know from personal experience, that when I worked on some emotional issues and got two weeks in a row of good sleep, my fibromalgia disappeared one morning as easily as it came.

Hypnosis is the perfect solution for insomnia! We can program the brain to sleep restfully and peacefully imagining sleeping all through the night and waking up at the needed time.

Research engineers and sleep medicine specialists from two Michigan universities have put together new quantitative analysis, signal-processing technology and computer algorithms to work in the sleep lab. One of their recent findings is that a new approach to analyzing sleep fragmentation appears to distinguish fibromyalgia patients from healthy controls.

Hypnosis and Cancer Survivorship

Hi Everyone,

500 people expected. Yikes

Seth-Deborah



Bay Area Cancer Forum
A GATHERING OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, RESEARCHERS, PATIENTS, PATIENT ADVOCATES, FRIENDS AND FAMILIES


Mind, Body and Stress: Seth Deborah Roth
A hypnotherapist speaks and shares simple hypnosis techniques you can use anywhere, anytime to manage the complex world of cancer survivorship.

Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Time: 6:15-7:45 PM
Where: Markstein Cancer Education Services
3100 Summit Street (Providence Pavilion)
Oakland


No fee but space is limited, registration requested
Markstein Cancer Education Services 510-869-8833 option 2


Seth-Deborah Roth is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and a Certified Hypnotherapist. She has over 39 years in the medical field. She is a member of the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists as well as holding membership in the NGH (National Guild of Hypnosis), the IMDHA, the IHF, the ABH, , and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. She has been featured on the Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" segment on hypnosis. She is a Certified Instructor and adjunct faculty member of the National Guild of Hypnosis.

Hypnosis at the Olympics

Below is part of an article from the San Francisco Chronicle about using hypnosis to make a winner at the Olympics. There are many ways we can improve our lives with hypnosis


Coach targets mental game in high-pressure sport

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Vincent Hancock is a nervous person, who by his own admission simply cannot keep still.

But when everything was on the line Saturday and he had to hit two final shots to win the skeet shooting Olympic gold medal, he stepped up and calmly blew the whizzing disks out of the sky

That's where Daniel Vitchoff steps in. sports psychologist hired to work with the U.S. shooting team.

"I specialize in hypnosis," said Vitchoff, a performance coach and sports psychologist hired to work with the U.S. shooting team. "When you are shooting in the Olympics, it comes down to who can best perform under extreme pressure. Out there, everybody is as good as the next person. It's not a physical thing anymore. The difference between the best and the rest is the mental game

Shooters must control their emotions yet still maintain their intensity and concentration.

"There are guys who shoot perfect scores in practice and then they fall apart in the competition, " Vitchoff said. "It's like having a phobia. It gets into their head and tears them apart. A lot of what I do is teach them to let it go."

That's where the hypnosis comes in. The idea, Vitchoff said, is to put the athletes into a meditative state by lowering their blood pressure and heart rate. Vitchoff then uses what is essentially the power of suggestion to reinforce positive thoughts. He said he goes over the relaxation techniques repeatedly until his subjects are able to reach what he calls the "zone."

"Look at Michael Jordon. When he played, his tongue was out, his jaw was relaxed. He was in a zone," Vitchoff said.

Another technique is called modeling, in which he takes something the athlete is struggling with and has him or her watch video over and over of that particular thing being done successfully.

http://www.sfgate. com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi f=/c/a/2008/ 08/17/SP0912CI1E .DTL

Medical Hypnosis Certification

Hi Everyone,

The NGH convention was SOOO much fun. You really must make time to come next year. I have been to many other conventions and they all are wonderful and you learn and learn and learn. With that being said, the fun is at the NGH. Tom Nicoli played his guitar until 2 in the morning and presented a side to him I never knew. It was the BEST !!!

It is interesting how one must adjust back when coming home.

I wanted to put out there that there are a just a few spaces left for my upcoming medical hypnosis certification course at Marilyn Gordon's hypnotherapy center , so if you haven't signed up yet you may want to sign up NOW.
Info is below and I promise to jam pack the weekend with as much information as I can. I add an insiders perspective in the marketing section since this is very important. What good is the knowledge if you can't get the business.

Seth-Deborah

If you want to heal your body,

you must first heal your mind -PLATO

Saturday and Sunday, August 23 & 24 9:30-5:00pm Medical Hypnotherapy Certification in Oakland, California
Learn about hypnosis in pain management, emergencies, irritable bowel, pre-, during- and after surgery, cancer treatment support, auto immune diseases, and simple everyday procedures and much more. You will be given an understanding of the basic physiology and biology behind medical hypnosis. You'll also learn how to market your services in this field. This 2-day training is taught by Seth-Deborah Roth, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and a Certified Medical Hypnotherapist and Certified Hypnosis Instructor. She brings over 36 years of diverse medical knowledge to this depth-filled course. Gain a feeling of confidence and broaden your scope of practice and knowledge in this exciting course. Earn 16 Nursing CEU's and hypnosis ceu's.
$275 in advance; $300 at the door. $15 discount for each person you bring
Find out more about Medical Hypnotherapy www.hypnotherapyfor health.com

Top Hypnosis Speakers

I wanted to acknowledge some of the top 10 speakers at he IMDHA 2008 meeting who are members of the NGH and will be presenting in August at the NGH convention.

In alphabetical order:

Creative Use of Music in Hypnotherapy - Peter Blum

Working With the IBS Client - Michael Ellner

To Smoke or Not - C Roy Hunter

The Coma State - Gerald Kein

Overcome Shyness - Debbie Papadakis

MythBusters Hypnotist Talks About Hypnosis & Surgery - Seth-Deborah Roth

Alchemical Bodywork - David Quigley

Hypnosis and Stress article in the East Bay Medical Guide

I thought you might like to read an article about me from an East Bay magazine "East Bay Medical Guide"

http://www.eastbaymedicalguide.com/media/East-Bay-Medical-Guide/Annual-2008/Stress/

Hypnosis Eases Inflammation in Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes chronic inflammation in the lining of the colon and rectum which leads to symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea.

A study in the U.K. of 17 patients with ulcerative colitis underwent 50 minute hypnosis sessions that were "gut-focused". The aim was relaxation and the relief of inflammation. Another 8 patients where considered the control. They just listened to music for 50 minutes.

The results were that blood levels of IL-6, which is a marker of inflammation in the body, fell by 53 percent in the hypnosis group, and the music listeners had NO SUBSTANTIAL change!!!

Obviously, there is something special and different about hypnosis.

The source of this study can be found in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, June 2008

A study to perhaps understand how hypnosis techniques and stress reduction help cancer patients?

As hypnotherapists, we know by working with our clients and patients that we can affect the stress response and its connection with the immune system. But, perhaps, the article below gives us a clue as to how this works. Something to think about!!

How The Brain Can Protect Against Cancer

ScienceDaily (Jun. 10, 2008) — Scientists have been aware for many years that if cancer patients are not able to deal with the stress associated with being sick, the cancer will progress faster than in calmer patients. To counteract this phenomenon, physicians encourage treatments that help cancer patients handle their stress. Scientists theorized that the stress relief may have come as a result of increased beta-endorphin peptide (BEP), the "feel good" hormones in the brain that are released during exercise, a good conversation, and many other aspects of life that give humans pleasure.

Researchers at Rutgers hypothesized that BEP producing neurons do not just make us feel good, but also play roles in regulating the stress response and immune functions to control tumor growth and progression. In a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Dr. Dipak K. Sarkar and his colleagues demonstrate the physical mechanisms that support their hypothesis.

"Our findings show promise for future therapeutic treatments for bolstering the immune function," said Sarkar, professor of animal sciences and director of the Endocrinology Program at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and principal investigator of the research project.

Previous research has shown that too few, or inactive, BEP neurons are associated with various diseases. For example, low numbers of BEP neurons have been identified in the brains of patients with depression and schizophrenia. Neurons that produce too little BEP are found in many obese patients. In both these cases the patients also had higher levels of infection and more incidence of cancer.

To test their hypothesis about the role of BEP in controling tumor growth and progression, the Rutgers scientists took neural stem cells, transformed them into BEP neurons by treating them with particular chemicals, and then transplanted them into brains of live rats. The authors studied tumor growth in the rats that had been given carcinogens to induce prostate tumors. The authors noted that the BEP neurons boosted the immune system by increasing the activity of particular immune cell types and decreasing inflammation.

The neurons also protected the rats against prostate cancer 90 percent of the time. The researchers discovered that the "natural killer," or NK cells that typically attack cancer cells in the body, are activated by the inserted BEP neurons. The NK cells reduced inflammation around the cancer cells, which slowed down caner cell growth and killed many of these cells.

"We are optimistic that this research can be applied to human medicine," said Sarkar. "Instead of transplanting cells, we will investigate whether we can increase BEP using a chemical approach."

---

Rutgers University (2008, June 10). How The Brain Can Protect Against Cancer.

Chantix,Smoking and Hypnosis

Hi All,

Medications can have many side effects ranging from the simple to the severe and even in some cases life threatening.
This whole debate about Chantix is a "GOOD THING" to use in your marketing. I know how many of my clients had suffered from the side effects of this medication. I remind all that all medications have side effects and affect all of the body.

Below is the article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

If you want to find out more about the power of hypnosis check out my site at www.hypnotherapyforhealth.com.


Seth-Deborah


Thanks to Chantix, Quitting Smoking May Be Hazardous, Too
Source: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), May 29, 2008

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer "is preparing an advertising and public-relations campaign to counter concerns about its antismoking drug Chantix, once trumpeted as a potential billion-dollar-a-year blockbuster." So far, Pfizer has "run ads in five major newspapers in which its medical director explains Chantix's risk-benefit balance." The drug company will soon "start hosting round-table discussions on Chantix for members of the media." The Pfizer campaign comes after an independent study linked Chantix "to 988 serious side effects in the last quarter of 2007." According to Senator Charles Grassley, who has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the drug's safety, Chantix has had "more reports of serious adverse events in this country than any other prescription drug." Some of the side effects reported for Chantix aren't currently listed in the drug's warnings. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, which conducted the Chantix study, receives drug company funding, but not from Pfizer, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Interview on IBS and the Brain with Dr. Mayer of UCLA

Hi everyone,

Found this interview on IBS and the brain that I thought you would find interesting. It doesn't mention hypnosis per se but has more to do with the brain and pain. I just thought it FYI. Interestingly, Dr. Mayer wrote back to me that he did indeed study hypnosis in his fellowship!!


Reported May 26, 2008
Overcoming the Pain of IBS (Interview)

Emeran Mayer, M.D., of UCLA, explains why the brain may be to blame for pain felt by irritable bowel syndrome patients.


What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)?

Dr. Mayer: IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, is one of the most common chronic functional pain conditions and is also one of the most common complaints that leads patients go to see a gastroenterologist. It is a combination of chronic abdominal pain and/or discomfort with altered bowel habits -- either constipation, diarrhea or a mix of those two.

Is there a known cause of IBS?

Dr. Mayer: Not really. I think we have gotten closer to understanding certain mechanisms that contribute to it but we don’t even know if its one disease or if its symptoms that can come from multiple different etiologies.

How do you normally treat IBS?

Dr. Mayer: There are traditional treatments that have been around for the last 20 to 25 years but very few of them have ever been demonstrated to be more effective than placebo. A few new drug treatments have been developed over the last ten years but unfortunately those had to be withdrawn or put into a limited access program because of rare but potentially harmful side effects. So we are pretty much at square one in terms of new medications. There are things on the horizon but what is currently available for the patient is very limited.

Explain to me how the brain prepares for pain.

Dr. Mayer: Pain happens like a reflex when something bad happens to your body. We are beginning to understand that the pain experience in humans is a very complex experience with sensory, emotional, cognitive, and memory components. The expectation of pain is one important component, and that is where that study is.

Tell me a little about your study.

Dr. Mayer: We enrolled female subjects, both healthy control subjects and patients with IBS, and excluded patients with psychiatric disease or psychological comorbidity. The study had two components -- one was the expectation condition, indicated by a queue light in the scanner, signaling an imminent adversive distension of the colon within one to three seconds. We recorded the brain’s response, both during the queue light and the actual distention, the latter being moderately unpleasant.

The patient would actually feel something during the second part of the study?

Dr. Mayer: They will feel something during the second part, meaning the distension part of the study, and this would be repeated many times. Then the average of these brain responses are analyzed.

What differences did you see between the two?

Dr. Mayer: There are fundamentally different responses to the expectation by the queue and the actual experience. But we found that these two responses are related. During the expectation -- and we had hypothesized this -- the brain prepares, depending on the stimulus, for what it thinks is going to happen. So if somebody knows this is a very strong stimulus, it’s inescapable and there is nothing you can do about it, like in the scanner, the normal brain would turn down the gain of the sensory systems and the emotional pain amplification system. This also happens when you are faced with an unavoidable situation and there is no advantage to becoming extremely sensitive --You want to minimize the damage. The response is different if the expected pain is variable, you don’t know if it’s just mild or barely perceptible, and if you don’t know when it is coming. In this case, the brain wants to do the opposite thing -- it wants to detect it as quickly as possible and determine if it is going to be something dangerous or not. The hypothesis we had was confirmed by the study because we found that healthy control subjects who know when something is going to be unpleasant and know that they cannot run away from it and don’t have any other alternatives, decrease activity in both sensory brain regions (reducing the sensory intensity of pain) and also in emotional regions that we know play a role in pain amplification. The more anxious, the more emotional somebody is, the more severe the experienced pain is. For example, going to the dentist isn’t always a good experience but the adult person has learned to cope with it. To cope with it, you train your brain to turn down the strength of the amplification -- the child who is terrified of the dentist does the opposite -- rather than turning it down, the child may actually increase the activity in those circuits.


How does a person with IBS react?

Dr. Mayer: To our surprise, the main difference we have found was that IBS patients failed to turn down the gain. They failed to turn off the sensory regions and they failed to turn off the emotional regions involved in anxiety or anticipatory anxiety. The brain fundamentally did not show the normal, what we call adaptive response to the situation. At first glance, this seems trivial, but it confirms -- actually relates to -- a much larger body of the literature about symptom-related fears or symptom-related anxiety which seem to be play a big role in many chronic pain disorders. The relationship between symptom-related anxiety and chronic pain has been shown in many non-imaging survey studies. Patients who have chronic pain disorders have much higher fears and anxieties related to what could happen in a given situation related to their symptoms. For example, what could happen if an IBS patient goes out for dinner -- this discomfort does not start at dinner -- it starts hours or minutes before the actual dinner, when the brain starts turning on the gain, the anxiety and emotional circuits, which in turn amplifies the discomfort when the meal is actually taken in.


Are your findings biological?

Dr. Mayer: Yes, this is always the big question. Most people like to squeeze you into traditional dichotomy -- is it psychological or is it real, meaning biological? We refuse to accept that dichotomy because the more we use imaging to look at brain function, the more we realize that every brain function, emotions, cognitions or pain response, has a biological basis. What we saw in this study is therefore a neurobiological response that is different in patients. We know that because we have other studies going on that look at what are the neurotransmitters underlying this -- it seems the dopamine signal system in the brain is involved in its difference. We also look at, for example, genetic factors -- how they might predispose an individual to have this response that does not turn off the gain. Why would there be a genetic basis for something like this and why would it be between 15 and 20 percent of the population who have these syndromes? It’s most likely that, from an evolutionary viewpoint, it is advantageous to avoid physical damage by not turning off the gain of the system, and detecting the pain stimulus early. Such an individual is hypervigilant and maximizes its sensitivities. You can ask yourself: what is better for you: to miss the appropriate response once if something really bad happens to you, or if you are hypervigilant and run away nine times too often. So we think that there may be a genetic basis for this kind of difference in the brain’s response.


Now that you know that, what does it mean for treating IBS down the road?

Dr. Mayer: Treatment takes several components. One is that we know certain patients respond well to medications that aim to decrease the activity in arousal circuits within the brain and can either manifest as anxiety or anticipatory anxiety or abnormal expectation -- that is the pharmacological implication. But maybe more interesting and relevant is the cognitive behavioral strategies where patients are trained to deal with situations differently. If you show this information to a patient and say we are going to teach you skills to respond differently to a situation, it can be very powerful. Surprisingly at the moment, I didn’t mention it earlier, cognitive behavioral therapies are the most effective treatments for patients who are willing to undergo it -- not general psychotherapy, not psychoanalysis, but really retraining the brain to respond differently to expected stressors, including pain.

Hypnosis for C-Section

Here is a link to seeing a C-Section performed under only hypnosis in Iran. http://www.halfvalue.com/playVideo.jsp?kw=Hypno&id=iftWAM1QljU

To see more surgeries under hypnosis go to my website www.hypnotherapyforhealth.com and click on the medical hypnosis videos on the left.

Hypnosis Relieves Years of Fecal Retention Syndrome

This field of medical hypnosis is so powerful!

I was referred a 12 year old girl with years of Fecal Retention Syndrome.
After having batteries of medical testing procedures, biofeedback and working with a psychologist she was told it was a "habit". The parents were besides themselves and finally gave me a call.

After the induction of hypnosis, we regressed to the first time of the bowel incident. She was 2 years old and standing behind the "big chair". Her daddy was in front of the chair. She felt her bowels starting to move and pushed them up. It felt "funny". They started to come down and she pushed them back up. It was a "funny" feeling. It felt different. She liked the "funny" feeling.

We had a talk with the little girl and then did some future pacing. The "habit" was gone.

Upon follow up, the habit is still gone and this little girl is very happy about it.

Hypnosis for Trouble Waking and Eyelash Pulling

I thought I might share this recent note I received. It is what makes this work so gratifying!!After only 1 session, this womans life time struggle with not being able to wake up stopped. She was also able to stop the unconscious pulling out of her eye lashes.

It has been one full week and I am sooooooo pleased! No eyelash pulling and I do the tapping thing every day in the shower to reaffirm that "I grow them lush and long". Also, I have been awakened naturally at 5am every day - you were right this is too early - even on the weekends!

I have beaten my boss into work every day and have referred her to your web-site should she choose to venture.

Thank you one thousand times! I am now freer to do more and have more energy to do it with since I'm not stressed about being late every day. I expect I will make a follow-up appt in about 3 weeks to adjust my waking time to 6:30 from 5am - what was I thinking? Not trusting????? hmmmmm

Alexandra K.

Hypnosis for Sleep Problems

This is National Sleep Awareness Week so I thought it wise to bring up the subject of how hypnosis can help with sleep issues.

Sleep is a natural state of renewal, processing and regenerative functions. It helps in "rewiring" our neural circuits, moving our memory from short term to long-term as well as forming it so to speak, Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is stimulated and restored, your blood pressure drops and all the cells in your body go through a protein synthesis, and your stress level pattern can be changed. Not only is is know that without proper sleep we are more irritable and more prone to both mental and physical exhaustion but we are also more prone to gaining weight.

Hypnosis can help deal with any hidden issues that are keeping you from sleeping as well as learning to use self-hypnosis to naturally fall asleep. In hypnosis we can install positive suggestions to your subconscious mind that all you to easily and effortlessly fall asleep

Hypnosis for an Office Procedure

Good Morning to everyone from absolutely stunning Sunday California morning,

On Friday, I used supplemental hyposis during a Vasectomy. (Husband is the Urologist doing the surgery).

The patient was not prepped beforehand with any hypnosis pre-talk at all.Before the surgery started, I induced trance and got immediate eye flutter. Good!!

The surgeon had to find the vas but it was a little difficult because of the patients anatomy and a little scarring. An air injector was used to inject the skin with Lidocaine 2% mixed with a little Bicarb to elimate any burning from the Lidocaine.During the surgery, hypnotic suggestion of a safe place, letting the hypnotic musics rythmn take you more relaxed (music through head phones at a level where he could still hear me) kept on being repeated.

First side went well!At one point during the surgery, on the second side, the testicle contracted so much that it made finding the vas deferans. The doctor asked to deepen the patient. I took the patient down to level C (told hime he was on level A etc....) The patient went deeper and relaxed, the testicles relaxed, and the doctor was able to get what he needed to get and the surgery went well easily and effortlessly.

After the surgery was done, emerged the patient. He commented that he felt great! The doctor commented how well the hypnosis worked in getting the scrotal area to relax and make his job easier.

Oh yes, Ken, my husband, says anyone wanting info on this needleless no scalpel vasectomy can take a look at his site: http://www.northerncaliforniaurology.com/

Hypnosis in the Dental Office

Here is a portion of the article regarding the use of hypnosis in a dental office in England:

"Graham often uses the following technique for his dental patients, once they are hypnotised.He asks them to imagine they have placed their hand in a bucket of ice until the hand goes numb.Once the patient feels ready, the hand is tested by being pinched or having a needle inserted into it to make sure it really is numb.The patient is then asked to touch the relevant part of their face, to transfer the numbness to that areaGraham then carries out the dental work as if the patient had been anaesthetised."


you can read the whole story at:
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/features/You-wont-feel-a-thing.3825344.jp

IBS and Hypnosis discussed in the N.Y. Times

Last month, The Journal of Family Practice offered a review of the most effective nondrug options for I.B.S. The reason for this is that I.B.S. drug treatments often don’t work for many patients or pose serious health risks. The drug Zelnorm was withdrawn after links to heart problems, and the drug Lotronex has been subjected to severe marketing restrictions because of concerns about side effects.


Here is the link to the article from the NY Times:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/herbs-hypnosis-may-ease-common-bowel-pain/?ex=120408840

Juggling a Schedule

Sometimes it is hard to juggle family, work, and making time for yourself!
World Hypnotism Day brought two seminars at two different hospitals here in the East Bay on one day. I taught my medical hypnosis certification course two weekends ago, February 2-3rd (at Marilyn Gordon's Hypnosis Center here in Oakland, California) then last weekend I took Brian Phillips "Walk-About" Rapid Inductions class in Los Angeles. Come March is the IHF convention in San Pedro, California where I will be moderating a Medical Hypnosis for Professionals discussiona and also presenting a class on "Transforming Pain". I teach again in April a two day "Hypnosis and Pain" course at The Hypnotherapy Center, present at the Health Fair at Summit and Alta Bates Hopsitals and then in May is the IACT convention in Florida. August is the NGH convention. Phew!!!!

Exciting news!! I have just been invited to present at the 2008 Holistic Healing Conference in Guangzhao, China in June!!!

Hypnosis May Accelerate Recovery

Hypnosis may accelerate recovery from serious injuries and surgeries. A Harvard Medical School study showed that the fractured bones of patients who received regular hypnotherapy were fusing at an advanced rate -- 6 weeks after the break, their bones appeared to have been healing for 8-1/2 weeks. A separate Harvard study also found that the incision wounds of women who were hypnotized before and after breast-reduction surgery healed more quickly. The hypnotized women also had less pain.

Hypnosis Alters Brain Location of Perception Literally

Altering perception using hypnosis actually results in brain changes that literally reduce the pain perception instead of altering the response to pain. By simply changing the wording of ones hypnosis instruction from “You will feel a cool and tingling numbness more than pain” to “You will be aware of touch but the pain will not bother you” there is an alteration in the brain location of analgesia from the somatosensory cortex to the anterior cingulated gyrus. With hypnosis alteration of color perception there is a result of bi-directional change in blood flow in the protions of the visual cortex that process color. What happens, is that, blood flow in this region increases when color is imagined ranther than seen and blood flow in this region decreases when color is drained by the use of hypnosis imagination. It appears that there is an actual neurophysiologally going on and that leads to the reality that hypnosis is a powerful tool to alter the perception of anxiey, tension and pain.

Hypnosis Proven Effective to Stop Smoking in a Hospitalized Setting

Results of a study were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in October 2007 that showed that half of hospitalized smokers had success of smoking cessation with hypnosis compared with other approaches tested in a comparison study. The study showed that hypnosis was twice as effective as the next best smoking cessation approach, including pharmacologic treatments The study compared four smoking cessation programs in hospitalised patients who were motivated to quit. Compared were hypnosis, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), hypnotherapy plus NRT, or abrupt cessation without other treatment (cold turkey). All of the patients expressed a desire to stop smoking which as we know is a key component to success.

Interestingly, it was found that men were more likely to choose a "quick fix," going cold turkey or choosing a NRT patch while women were more likely to choose hypnotherapy. All patients received counselling in this study. Patients receiving hypnosis had an initial session while in the hospital and a second session a week after discharge. Patients receiving NRT began therapy during hospitalization and continued with NRT during the month after discharge.

After 6 months, 50% of patients who underwent hypnosis remained smoking-free as were those who received hypnotherapy plus NRT. One quarter of patients who went cold turkey remained successful, while 15.78% of those who received NRT alone continued to not smoke. It was found that, adding NRT did not help the success of hypnotherapy. Patients who had been hospitalised with a cardiac diagnosis were more likely to be successful at quitting than those with a pulmonary diagnosis, with success rates of 45.5% and 15.63%, respectively.

Hypnosis in the Medical Setting

A new Mayo Clinic study shows that massage therapy decreases pain levels for patients after heart surgery. In the study were 58 patients who had undergone surgery and examined the effect of massage on pain after surgery. Of the 30 who received massage, the mean pain scores were less than 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as the most painful. Before the massage therapy, these patients rated their pain at an average of 3 on a 10-point scale. The control group (which consisted of 28) had their pain levels remaining the same over the same period, according to findings published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

In 2004, the Mayo Clinic's cardiovascular surgery group began looking at complementary therapies. According to surveys that were conducted the group started to hear from patients that tension, stress, pain and anxiety hampered their recovery.

There is now the "Healing Enhancement Program" for cardiac surgery patients. It offers massage, music and guided imagery. The program combines evidence-based conventional care and evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine.These therapies place are seen as an important addition in helping the patients.

The programs team of health professionals have created pilot studies and research protocols for massage therapy, music therapy and guided imagery for patients, as well as stress education classes for patients and family members.Currently a controlled trial for various music CD's is under way.

This complementary health method teaches patients to use their imaginations along with music to help guide them through recovery. The guided imagery is on CD's which are distributed to patients when they are informed of the need for surgery.

The Mayo Clinic Patient Education Center offers a pilot stress management skill classes to inpatients and their family members. The classes are conducted twice a week on the cardiac surgery units. The Mayo Clinic now has a full-time massage therapist available for patients after heart surgery because of this program.

Now is the time for Hypnotherapists to go out there and spread the word about the use of hypnosis in the medical setting.

Hypnosis, Pain Response, Monoamine Oxidase and Serotonin

Hypnosis influences the workings of our brain and the compounds or “neurotransmitters” we then put out. There is a study that was performed with patients who learned relaxation skills. The researchers checked the subjects’ monoamine oxidase levels-( monoamine oxidase is what metabolizes serotonin, our feeling good chemical, a pain relief chemical) and found changes in those levels consistent with what you would expect with preventive drug therapy! The results of this study suggesed that, it is not only just a matter of feeling relaxed that’s important but actually learning relaxation therapies so as to turn off and on certain pain pathways in the nervous system by changing those monoamine oxidase levels which consequently change the serotonin levels.

Research on Using Hypnosis for Needle Phobia

I am so happy that there is some real research going on regarding the use of hypnosis for medical procedures. Read and enjoy!!

Brief hypnosis for severe needle phobia using switch--wire imagery in a 5-year old.
Pediatric Anesthesia. 2007 Aug;17(8):800-804.
Cyna AM, Tomkins D, Maddock T, Barker D. Department of Paediatric Anaesthesia, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
We present a case of severe needle phobia in a 5-year-old boy who learned to utilize a self-hypnosis technique to facilitate intravenous (i.v.) cannula placement. He was diagnosed with Bruton's disease at 5 months of age and required monthly intravenous infusions. The boy had received inhalational general anesthesia for i.v. cannulation on 58 occasions. Initially, this was because of difficult venous access but more recently because of severe distress and agitation when approached with a cannula. Oral premedication with midazolam or ketamine proved unsatisfactory and hypnotherapy was therefore considered. Following a 10-min conversational hypnotic induction, he was able to use switch--wire imagery to dissociate sensation and movement in all four limbs in turn. Two days later the boy experienced painless venepuncture without the use of topical local anesthetic cream. There was no movement in the 'switched-off' arm during i.v. cannula placement. This report adds to the increasing body of evidence that hypnosis represents a useful, additional tool that anesthetists may find valuable in everyday practice.

Hypnosis Possibilities - Integrative Medicine Consult Service Established at the NIH Clinical Center

Below is an article from PressZoom:
Integrative Medicine Consult Service Established at the NIH Clinical Center


(PressZoom) - The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine ( NCCAM ) has established an Integrative Medicine Consult Service at the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) Clinical Center, the world’s largest hospital devoted to research. This service will provide physicians, nurses, and other members of the Clinical Cnete health care team the ability to discuss complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) therapies with knowledgeable medical staff from the consult service and learn how various CAM practices might complement or interact with a patient's care as a research participant at the Clinical Center.CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine, such as herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic manipulation, and acupuncture. Integrative medicine combines treatments from conventional medicine and CAM for which there is high-quality evidence of safety and effectiveness.The 2002 National Health Interview Survey showed that more than one-third of all American adults use some form of CAM. And a recent consumer survey of older Americans revealed that less than one-third of those who had used CAM discussed this information with their physicians. Since patients at the Clinical Center are participating in research studies, it is important to know what CAM therapies are being used and how they might affect the treatments being studied.“Volunteers who participate in clinical research at the NIH Clinical Center are partners in medical discovery. We are committed to providing excellent care for them,” said John I. Gallin, M.D., Director of the Clinical Center. “This new consult service will help enhance the care they receive and the research conducted here.”CAM is not a new concept at the NIH Clinical Center. The Clinical Center’s Pain and Palliative Care Service and the Rehabilitation Medicine Department offer acupuncture, Reiki, hypnosis, guided imagery, massage therapy, acupuncture, tai chi, and qi gong training. The Pharmacy Department consults on herbals and herb/drug interactions and has conducted research in these areas. The Integrative Medicine Consult Service will coordinate the resources of these existing services to meet the needs of the Clinical Center staff and its patients. In addition to offering clinical consultation regarding CAM therapies, the service will establish a research program embedded in NIH’’s clinical and translational research structure and provide CAM education for NIH staff, patients, and their families.The director of the consult service will be Patrick J. Mansky, M.D., a clinical oncologist and researcher at NCCAM. Dr. Mansky received his medical degree from Witten/Herdecke University Medical School in Germany, where he also gained experience and received instruction in Anthroposophical Medicine including herbal therapies, art therapies, and physical applications. After a postdoctoral research fellowship in immunogenetics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, he completed clinical residency training in pediatrics and internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Mansky joined NIH in 1997 as a clinical and research fellow in pediatric hematology/oncology and medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute.“I am delighted that Dr. Mansky accepted the position of head of the consult service. This service will provide a focal point for CAM evaluation, research, and education in the NIH intramural community,” said Robert B. Nussenblatt, M.D., Acting Scientific and Clinical Director of NCCAM’s Division of Intramural Research. “I hope the larger medical community will find this an important new addition to the evaluation and treatment of our patients.”In 2001, Dr. Mansky joined NCCAM as a staff clinician and clinical investigator leading the Oncology Program in NCCAM’s Division of Intramural Research. He conducts research on the application of CAM interventions in the care and treatment of cancer patients and survivors, such as electroacupuncture for nausea from chemotherapy, use of mistletoe in combination with gemcitabine for treating advanced cancers, and effects of tai chi and exercise in cancer survivors.“We are pleased with the creation of the Integrative Medicine Consult Service and the role we hope it will play in providing Clinical Center patients with the best possible integrated care,” said, Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., Acting Director of NCCAM. “Dr. Mansky’s blend of clinical and research experience at the crossroads of the CAM and conventional medicine fields makes him an excellent choice to lead this consult service.”The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s mission is to explore complementary and alternative medical practices in the context of rigorous science, train CAM researchers, and disseminate authoritative information to the public and professionals. For additional information, call NCCAM’s Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit nccam.nih.gov.The National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.

For us Hypnotherapists: More Information On Smoking Damaging DNA in Sperm

Below is an article from ScienceDaily.com:

Cigarette Smoke Alters DNA In Sperm, Genetic Damage Could Pass To Offspring

From a news release issued by American Association for Cancer Research new research shows that children could inherit genetic damage from a father who smokes. Researchers in Canada, demonstrated in mice that smoking can cause changes in the DNA sequence of sperm cells, and that these alterations can potentially be inherited by offspring.

The researchers looked at male germline mutations which are mutations in the DNA of sperm. If these mutations are inherited, then they will persist as irreversible changes in the genetic composition of any off-spring. Carole Yauk, Ph.D., lead author of the study and research scientist in the Mutagenesis Section of Health Canada's Environmental and Occupational Toxicology Division said that "We have known that mothers who smoke can harm their fetuses, and here we show evidence that fathers can potentially damage offspring long before they may even meet their future mate."

Males, be they mouse or man, keep on generating a constant supply of new sperm from self-renewing spermatogonial stem cells. McMaster University researchers studied the spermatogonial stem cells of mature mice that had been exposed to cigarette smoke for either six or 12 weeks to look for alterations in repeated portions of Ms6-hm DNA, which does not contain any known genes. The exposed to smoke mice were exposed to the equivalent of two cigarettes per day.

It was found that the rate of Ms6-hm mutations in the exposed to smoke mice were 1.4 times higher than that of non-exposed to smoke mice at six weeks, and 1.7 times that of non-exposed to smoke mice at 12 weeks. "This suggests that damage is related to the duration of exposure, so the longer you smoke the more mutations accumulate and the more likely a potential effect may arise in the offspring," Yauk said.

According to Yauk, other studies have shown that Ms6-hm and similar locations of non-coding DNA are sensitive to damage from radiation, mutagenic chemicals and intense industrial air particulate pollution. Yauk notes that previous studies correlate mutations in non-coding regions with those in coding regions, and that some repetitive regions of DNA (not exam-ined in this study) are associated with genes.

"It stands to reason that mutations could also interfere with genes, but our ongoing research looks to clarify the severity of DNA damage throughout the genome," said Yauk. "So, while some men say they'll quit smoking after their child is born, this represents a good reason to quit well in advance of trying to conceive."

IBS and Hypnosis News Today from the BBC

Below is an article from todays BBC:
Hypnosis 'can ease bowel illness' Hypnotherapy could help people with severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), researchers say.

Doctors should consider using this and other "psychological" treatments such as antidepressants to help sufferers, King's College London experts say in the British Medical Journal.
Experts said there is growing evidence that IBS cases have psychological as well as biological elements.

Conventional medicines prescribed for IBS often ease symptoms partially, or not at all.

Many scientists now believe that the cause of IBS in many of the cases is a combination of mental and physical factors, and that the drugs commonly used to tackle it may be aiming at the wrong target.

Patients with IBS are more likely to be diagnosed with depression. Dr Ian Forgacs, a consultant gastroenterologist from Kings College, says that doctors are often reluctant to prescribe anti-depressants, especially in patients who, apart from their IBS, show no outward signs of being depressed. He urged them to consider other forms of psychological therapy, including hypnotherapy, as an alternative in some cases. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome should be made aware of the existence of these treatments so that they can make informed choices," he said. "Specifically, they should be made aware that using a psychological treatment does not mean that the disease is 'all in the mind'."

He found that one of the most effective treatments for IBS in research studies were so-called "talking therapies", such as cognitive behavioural therapy, particularly for people whose symptoms were causing them the most distress and that severe cases of IBS could be improved by using hypnotherapy to target the links between the brain and the gut.

Dr Nick Read, adviser to the IBS Network, feels that the majority of IBS patients have a psychological element to their condition. He said: "There's now a lot of evidence that psychological therapies can be effective, but a lot of doctors remain sceptical, and carry on treating with drugs which have side-effects, and which basically don't work. "I work with patients with IBS trying to understand what, for each patient, lies behind the illness."

News Release Regarding IBS and Hypnotherapy by the American Gastroenterological Association

Hypnotherapy for Children with Functional Abdominal Pain or Irritable Bowel Syndrome

As hypnotherapy has demonstrated effectiveness in adults with IBS, researchers sought to compare its effects in children to standard medical therapy commonly used for the condition as an alternative to drug therapy.

The study involved 53 patients between eight and 18 years old with FAP or IBS, who were administered six half-hour hypnotherapy sessions over a three-month period. Endpoints were pain intensity, pain frequency and other symptoms, such as nausea, headache and appetite, which were recorded at baseline, one, two, and three months after randomization and six and 12 months after therapy. Researchers defined "cure" as those who experienced greater than 80 percent improvement in pain.

The study revealed that hypnotherapy was superior to conventional therapy for children with longstanding functional abdominal pain (FAP) or IBS, curing 59 percent of the patients, versus just 12 percent of patients who received conventional therapy. After one year, the figures were 85 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Patients who received hypnotherapy also experienced less pain after treatment compared to the group that received conventional therapy.

"Our team was pleased to learn that the demonstrated benefits of hypnotherapy on IBS complications appear to be translatable to children," said Arine M. Vlieger, M.D., Ph.D., of St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein, Netherlands, and lead author of the study. "Hopefully, these findings will be confirmed with additional research so that more children can experience relief from the symptoms of IBS without adherence to a medication regimen."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Gastroenterological Association.

Thoughts on Visualization for Cancer Patients

I feel that we can take advantage of real life guided imagery when working with our clients and various health issues. In regards to helping our patients with cancer, I believe we should utilize the idea of shutting down the blood supply to the tumor or tumors.

There are a class of drugs that are called anti-angiogenic therapeutics, (this includes the drug Avastin) because they target the numerous small blood vessels that supply tumors with oxygen and nutrients and therefore ensuring their continued growth. Anti-angiogenic drugs target a protein that plays an important role in the formation of new blood vessels in tumors. These drugs are called targeted therapeutics because they have far fewer side effects than chemotherapy drugs because they spare healthy tissues and can zero in on the cancer cells they seek to destroy. You may see patients in your practice recieving these drugs.

Avastin, which was developed by Genentech, works well in combination with chemotherapy for a number of reasons. The reason is because the blood vessels in tumors normally do not allow the chemotherapy drugs to diffuse into the tumors. What the drug Avastin does is that besides choking off the tumor blood supply, it also makes the remaining blood vessels healthier which enables them to diffuse the chemo drugs into the tumor better.

Utilize these physical factors if your clients find such an approach appealing to them. Try to find out what vusualization works for them.

National Guild Of Hypnotists Prepares for Record Attendance at Convention

National Guild of Hypnotists Prepares for Record Attendance at Convention
The National Guild of Hypnotists expects largest attendance ever as convention celebrates twentieth year, and convention programs expand to include new training, more speakers, a larger international format, and new Certified Education Units.
Merrimack, NH (PRWEB) April 18, 2007 --
For the twentieth year, the National Guild of Hypnotists will host their annual convention, exhibition, and educational conference. The NGH convention offers intensive trainings, recertification, Certified Education Units, networking, and marketing opportunities for professionals who utilize hypnosis in their work. The convention is also open to the public for people with a sincere interest in learning more about hypnotism for themselves, as a career, or as an addition to professional services they already offer.
Our training programs are conducted by award-winning speakers, published authors, and trainers and authorities on professional hypnotism. Twenty-seven of our speakers are from outside the United States. We may be the National Guild of Hypnotists, but this is truly an international event.
The 2007 NGH convention is scheduled for August 10, 11, and 12, at the Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Convention organizers are preparing for the largest attendance ever in the event's twenty-year history. National Guild of Hypnotists president, Dr. Dwight F. Damon, says, "Every year the National Guild of Hypnotists convention surpasses the previous year in the number of dynamic speakers, programs, and attendee benefits offered. Each year the NGH convention finds new ways to educate, support, and reward the attendees, but this year will definitely top all others."
The National Guild of Hypnotists has over 10,000 members, representing 65 countries around the world. There are NGH certified trainers in 44 US states and 27 countries. With 280 seminars and workshops scheduled during the three-day event, convention attendees can customize their participation, allowing them to take advantage of exactly the topics that benefit them most. NGH president Damon explains, "Our training programs are conducted by award-winning speakers, published authors, and trainers and authorities on professional hypnotism. Twenty-seven of our speakers are from outside the United States. We may be the National Guild of Hypnotists, but this is truly an international event."
This year's National Guild of Hypnotists twentieth anniversary convention will be held at the Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts. For registration information, call the NGH Registrar at (603) 429-9438. For hotel reservations, convention attendees should call (508) 460-0700. To learn more about NGH, visit their website at http://www.ngh.net Daily convention and NGH news is updated on the National Guild of Hypnotists blog: www.nghconvention.com The National Guild of Hypnotists, Inc. is a not-for-profit, educational corporation. Founded in Boston, MA, in 1951, the Guild is a professional organization comprised of dedicated individuals committed to advancing the field of hypnotism. National Guild of Hypnotists president, Dr. Dwight F. Damon, is available for media interviews at (603) 429-9438.

Using Hypnosis to Attain a Sense of Optimism

Being Positive

Pessimism has been linked to a higher risk of dying before age 65. When you express and FEEL positive emotions you can acesss a variety of health benefits: lowered production of the stress hormone cortisol, better immune function, and reduced risk of chronic diseases.

If you are stressed-out or anxious you can use hypnosis or hypnotherapy as a way to perhaps emotionally heal the unaware reasons for your sense of pessimism or to help yourself to obtain a sense of optimism.

Blood samples taken after hypnosis actually showed an increase in the white blood cell count of our immune system.

Hypnosis and Fertility Make the News

Finally, the idea that hypnosis can help with fertility has been recognized by the news media. Below is the link to the CBS news video.

You may want to read one of the testimonials of an infertility client of mine on my website at www.hypnotherapyforhealth.com

http://cbs5.com/health/local_story_047200506.html

Hypnosis in the Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I just came across this abstract from 2005 that I thought I would share with everybody.

Chronic fatigue Complimentary therapies Clinical effectiveness
Source: Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 26 October 2005; 12 (4) p37-46

During the past 30 years hypnosis has become recognised as a useful adjunct to traditional medical therapies, and has become part of mainstream medicine. Hypnosis societies provide training for health professionals to obtain registrable qualifications. The modality has been incorporated in the management of many medical conditions and diseases, with opportunities for symptom control, building confidence and enhancing the benefits of regular therapies. There are many opportunities for using hypnosis as an adjunctive therapy in the management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, despite some early difficulties. Problems likely to be encountered are discussed and the structure of the hypnosis session is outlined. Suggestions are given for practitioners to construct useful scripts, which can be used to teach self-hypnosis.

Some Studies on the Power of the Mind on The Body

Mindful Meditation Increases Antibodies

Researchers performed a randomized, controlled study to discover the effects of an 8-week training program of mindfulness meditation on brain and immune function with healthy employees in a work environment. The study concludes that a short program of mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable positive effects on brain and immune function and further research is indicated.

Source: Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine 65: pp 564-570 (2003).

Motor Imagery Helps Stroke Recovery

Two survivors of embolic middle cerebral artery stroke that resulted in chronic hemiparesis received training consisting of 12 one-hour sessions, 3 times a week, for 4 consecutive weeks, of imagining wrist movements (extension, pronation-supination) and mental simulations of reaching and object manipulation, making use of a mirror box apparatus.

The study suggests that these results demonstrate the potential for using motor imagery as a cognitive strategy for functional recovery from hemparesis. The researchers felt that the intervention targeted the cognitive level of action processing, while its effects may be realized in overt behavioral performance.

Source: Using motor imagery in the rehabilitation of hemiparesis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2003 July; 84 (7): pp. 1090-2. j-stevens3@northwestern.edu

Hypnosis Doubles Weight Loss Research

Researchers from the University of Connecticut at Storrs ran an analysis of the effect of adding hypnosis to a behavioral program for weight reduction.

Averaged across post treatment and follow-up assessment periods from all the studies, the mean weight loss was 6.00 lbs. (2.72 kg) without hypnosis and 11.83 lbs. (5.37 kg) with hypnosis.
The mean effect size of this difference was 0.66 SD (standard deviations) Correlational analyses indicated that the benefits of hypnosis increased substantially over time (r = .74).
Citation: Kirsch I. Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments--another meta-reanalysis. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology. 1996 Jun; 64(3): pages 517-519.

Another Reason to Make That New Years Resolution Really Happen and Use Hypnosis to Stop Smoking

A reanalysis of nicotine from a brand name cigarette sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005 confirmed that manufacturers have steadily increased the levels of this agent in cigarettes. This independent analysis which was based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) by the manufacturers, found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year, or about 11 percent over a seven-year period (1998-2005). Remember, nicotine is the primary addictive agent in cigarettes

Guided Imagery for Cancer Patients - Hypnosis

Guided imagery is a visualization technique that helps clients to focus on positive images to heal their bodies. The Simonton method of guided imagery, was developed by thr oncologist O. Carl Simonton and his wife, to help patients that wereundergoing treatments for cancer. This method taught cancer patients to picture their immune system cells as "gobbling up" cancer cells like "Pac Man," and destroying them.

Guided imagery is based on the idea that the mind can affect the functions of the body. We as hypnotherapists know this can be true. Stimulating the brain through imagery can have a direct effect on both the endocrine and nervous systems, which lead to changes in immune system function. Guided imagery is used to promote relaxation, reduce stress and help the mind influence the body in positive ways.

"A review of 46 studies conducted from 1966 to 1998 by the American Cancer Society found that guided imagery was effective in managing stress, anxiety, depression, pain and the side effects of chemotherapy. A recent randomized clinical trial involving women with early stage breast cancer found guided imagery was also useful for easing anxiety related to radiation therapy, including fears about the equipment, surgical pain, and recurrence of cancer. Although one uncontrolled, exploratory study suggested that guided imagery can increase survival rates for people with cancer, there is no scientific evidence these techniques can cure cancer or any other disease.

Carol L. Baird, an associate professor of nursing at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., recently tested guided imagery with a relaxation component among older women suffering from osteoarthritis. Half of the 28 volunteers in the pilot study listened to recordings that described a pleasant scene and guided listeners to engage all of their senses. After 12 weeks, the experimental group experienced a significant reduction in pain compared with women in the control group. The guided-imagery group also had increased mobility, the study showed. Interestingly, a separate study involving the same volunteers found that guided imagery with relaxation seemed to improve their quality of their life. "

With hypnosis, we can take guided imagery even further and help our clients to release negative feelings and emotions and get a different perspective.

Let's Use Hypnosis to Help With Negative Emotions

In a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings medical journal, December 2006, researchers found that of nearly 7,000 adults followed since their college days in the 1960s, those who were optimistic in their youth had a lower risk of dying over the next 40 years than their more pessimistic peers.

The most pessimistic study participants were 42 percent more likely to die of any cause than the most positive participants.

There have been past studies on personality factors and health, that have linked optimism to longer life. One study of elderly adults found that those with a positive view of the future were less likely than pessimists to die over the next decade -- regardless of their health at the start of the study.

Led by Dr. Beverly H. Brummett of Duke University Medical Center she says that
optimists are less likely to suffer from depression than are pessimists, which could, in turn, affect their physical health. They may also maintain a healthier lifestyle, paying more attention to their diet and exercise habits.

These findings are based on a 40-year follow-up of 6,958 men and women who entered the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the mid-1960s. At the start of the study, they took a standard personality test that gauges a person's tendency to be optimistic or pessimistic.

In general, optimists believe negative events are only temporary and don't let them affect their overall attitude about themselves and the world. Pessimists, take such events to heart, often blaming themselves and believing that the bad times will last forever.

In this study, 1,630 were deemed pessimists and 923 optimists, while most were judged to be somewhere between a pure optimist or pessimist.

It is difficult to change the basic constructs of your personality, Brummett told Reuters Health. However, she added, "there are many aspects of personality that can be modified to a certain degree if an individual is motivated to do so."

For example, Brummett said, people with a hostile temperament -- a trait linked to heart disease and premature death -- may be able to change their ways with the help of anger management therapy.

On the other side of the spectrum, people might try injecting some positivity into their lives. As an example, Brummett pointed to meditation, which, according to some research, may boost positive emotions.

This is where I feel hynotherapy can be of extreme benefit! We can help people to see things differently experience things differently, and feel empowered.

Another Reason to use Hypnosis for Childbirth

A new study of more than 1,200 women suggests that those who receive epidural anesthesia during childbirth with fentanyl (a very very strong narcotic) may have trouble breastfeeding.

Women who got a fentanyl epidural reported more difficulty with breastfeeding in the first week and they were also twice as likely to give up breastfeeding within the first six months.

Other research has suggested that fentanyl can also interfere with infants' ability to suckle.

Experts recommend that babies be fed only breast milk for the first six months, and that partial breastfeeding continue until the baby is 1 year old.

Source: International Breastfeeding Journal December 11, 2006

Hypnosis, Guided Imagery and Cancer

In one study, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that more than 30 percent of U.S. adults have used some form of mind-body medicine, a category that includes imagery, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Guided imagery is a visualization technique, which helps patients to focus on positive images to heal their bodies. Hypnotherapists guide patients and help them build detailed images in their minds. Patients are encouraged to picture their tumors shrinking in one local area or their whole body freeing itself of cancer. The Simonton method of guided imagery, developed by oncologist O. Carl Simonton and his wife, was designed to help patients undergoing standard treatments for cancer. This method teaches cancer patients to picture their immune system cells "gobbling up" cancer cells like "Pac Man," and destroying them.

Guided imagery is based on the idea that the mind can affect the functions of the body. Stimulating the brain through imagery can have a direct effect on both the endocrine and nervous systems, which lead to changes in immune system function. Guided imagery helps the mind influence the body in positive ways.

A review of 46 studies conducted from 1966 to 1998 by the American Cancer Society found that guided imagery was effective in managing stress, anxiety, depression, pain and the side effects of chemotherapy. A recent randomized clinical trial involving women with early stage breast cancer found guided imagery was also useful for easing anxiety related to radiation therapy, including fears about the equipment, surgical pain, and recurrence of cancer.

In a 2004 study in the journal Pain, researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center found that children who used guided-imagery tapes before and after routine surgery had significantly less pain and anxiety than a control group. More recently, researchers examined how children used these tapes, which suggested that they imagine going to a park, at least in their mind. Many, though, put their own spin on the image, such as a swimming pool, a lake or an amusement park.

Our imagination and its accompanying imagery is the language of the autonomic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary body functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure and digestion. Therefore, when you're working with images, it is just as if you are giving a set of instructions to the system.

There was published the results of a 10-week guided imagery intervention study in the January 2006 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Invoolving a small group of patients with fibromyalgia, a condition involving chronic pain and fatigue. In the study, one group of patients received usual care and used a set of guided-imagery audiotapes. The other group received only usual care. Compared with the controls, the patients who participated in guided imagery were better able to perform activities of daily living and had a greater sense of being able to manage their pain and other symptoms.The pain did not change, but the ability to cope with the pain was improved.

The advantage of using hypnosis and guided imagery is that we can also help to diminsh pain!

When Teaching Hypnosis Classes Check Your Students Intent

In the December 2006 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers, using the MRI, found that when a person watches someone else perform a task with the intention of later replicating the observed performance, motor areas of the brain are activated in a fashion similar to that with accompanies actual movement.

Teaching a physical skill often usually involves someone demonstrating the action and its components after which the learner then tries to reproduce what he or she has observed.

In this experiment, 19 college-aged, healthy adults watched a series of digital videos of another person who was putting together or disassembling objects using toy parts. In one condition, participants simply watched the activity; in another, they observed clips with the intention to be able to reproduce the actions in the correct sequential order minutes later.

Despite lying completely still during these tasks, observing with the intention to learn actions and subsequently reproduce them engages areas of the brain known to contribute to motor learning thorough actual physical practice. It is of particular attention that the amount of activity occurring in the intraparietal sulcus (the part when watching to learn accurately) predicts how well these actions are reproduced minutes later.

The researchers concluded that it appears to be vital that the intention of the observer is important rather than simply the visual stimulus that is being viewed. Therefore, if the student has the goal to be able to do what you are seeing, then it appears that activity through your motor system is up-regulated substantially.

So, perhaps when teaching our hypnosis classes we should emphasize to our students to have the intention while they watch a "demo" to learn all they can so they can duplicate the process.

Using Hypnosis to Counter Sleep Deprivation and its Accompanying Health Risks

Hypnosis sessions and learning self-hypnosis techiniques can be useful in dealing with insomnia. Hypnosis sessions with a trained clinical hypnotherapist can help you to realize and release old reasons for insomnia that may be hanging around. When you learn self-hypnosis techniques you begin to feel in control and reach a stage of feeling more resourceful.

Researchers believe that sleep deprivation contributes to various health risks, such as obesity and diabetes. Lack of sleep or sleeping at odd hours may also increase your risk of developing cancer or heart disease.

Studies of humans have shown that the levels of hormones responsible for appetite regulation are profoundly influenced by sleep duration. Sleep loss is associated with an increase in appetite.
Cortisol,a hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, is elevated in stress states. Levels of cortisol were about six times higher in subjects who had undergone six days of sleep restriction than in subjects who were fully rested. Elevated cortisol levels are believed to promote the development of insulin resistance, a risk factor for obesity and diabetes. Elevated levels of cortisol can trigger a person to snack on junky foods which can be high in sugar, fat and calories.

Sleeping and feeding are both intricately related. Animals faced with food shortage sleep less. Also, animals that are subjected to sleep deprivation for prolonged periods of time increase their food intake dramatically.

Leptin, is a hormone that signals satiety to the brain. It reduces our appetite. Studies demonstrate it is dependent on sleep duration. In one study, after six days of restricting sleep to four hours a night, the blood levels of leptin were very much decreased. The drop was comparable to what is seen after three days of eating only 900 calories a day. The subjects in the sleep-restriction condition received identical amounts of caloric intake as when they were fully rested. Their leptin levels were signaling a state of famine in the midst of plenty. Sleep loss seems to alter the ability of hormones to signal caloric need accurately and could lead to excessive eating when food is freely available.

In a research study conducted by Boston University School of Medicine, there was found a connection between insomnia and diabetes. Study participants who reported sleeping fewer than six hours or more than nine hours a day had an increased incidence of diabetes, compared to those who reported sleeping seven to eight hours.

Clearly, sleep is essential not only for the brain but also for the rest of the body.

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford's Warneford Hospital in the UK, studied people with insomnia versus "good sleepers", to see if various ways of managing unwanted thoughts affected sleep quality, anxiety and depression. What they found out was that with the exception of cognitive distraction, the people suffering from insomnia, compared to good sleepers, more frequently used thought control strategies. Strategies of aggressive suppression and worry appeared to be entirely unhelpful. The use of these "control" strategies were actually predictors of sleep impairment, anxiety and depression. Which is why I recommend writing down our thoughts and problems in a journal before sleep and "giving them" to our "Dear Subconscious Mind". The strategy of cognitive distraction (guided imagery) also appeared to be helpful in predicting better sleep quality.

Here are some good "SLEEP HYGIENE" ideas:

• Keep a regular schedule. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends and holidays.

• Incorporate bedtime rituals. Soft music or sipping a cup of decaffeinated tea cues your body that it’s time to slow down. Mediatiation or other relaxation is helpful. Or a warm bath! No T.V.

• Don’t eat a large, heavy meal before bed. This can cause indigestion or slow digestion and can interfere with your normal sleep cycle. Drinking too much fluid before bed can cause you to get up to go "potty".

• Certain bedtime snacks can help because of the amino acid called tryptophan, found in milk, turkey and peanut butter. It helps the brain produce serotonin, a chemical that helps you relax. Try drinking warm milk or eat a slice of toast with peanut butter or a bowl of warm cereal before bedtime. The warmth just may temporarily increase your body temperature, hastening sleep.

• Keep a journal at your bedside were you can write down your worries. Tell your subconscious mind to allow yourself to wake up in the morning with any answeres that you need. Then just decide to let your mind do want it needs to do as you release the need to figure it all out.

• Go to sleep when you are sleepy. When you feel tired, go to bed. There is a good reason your body is asking you to go to sleep!!

Research: Ree MJ, Harvey AG, Blake R, Tang NK, Shawe-Taylor M.Attempts to control unwanted thoughts in the night: development of the thought control questionnaire-insomnia revised (TCQI-R). Behavioral Research and Therapy. 2005 August

Researchers Talk About Hypnosis for Back Pain

Researchers from the VA Connecticut Healthcare System looked at data from 22 studies published between 1982 and 2003. Participants had low back pain for at least three months and the average duration was seven and a half years.

The researchers found that psychological interventions alone or combined with other care were better than standard treatments for pain-related outcomes. The largest and most consistent effect was in reducing the intensity of pain. The interventions uses included behavioral and cognitive-behavioral techniques; self-regulatory techniques such as hypnosis, biofeedback, and relaxation and counseling.

What was surprising was that interventions were originally developed to help patients live with their pain more successfully, not to actually reduce pain. An added benefit was an improvement in the health-related quality of life, work-related disability, and depression.

Dennis Turk, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and pain research at the University of Washington in Seattle reports chronic pain patients don't always see the value of psychological treatments because they have been set up to expect a cure. Sometimes, cures just don't happen even when using the latest and greatest treatments. These interventions "are not cures, but they do reduce pain and improve function and they are important components in the treatment of people with chronic pain."

SOURCE: Health Psychology, 2007;26

Let's Use Hypnosis to Take Advantage of Pain Relief Being Connected to Our Mind Set

Research by the Human Pain Research Group at The University of Manchester suggests that people's responses to placebo pain relief varies according to their way of thinking.

In the study a group of 40 pain-free volunteers took part in an experiment using an artificial pain stimulus. They were led to expect reduced pain after the application of a cream which was actually a placebo. Twenty four of the volunteers initially received a moderately painful heat stimulus to both arms. The placebo cream was then applied to the skin. They were led to believe that the cream on one of their arms may be a local anaesthetic.

After the application of the cream, the intensity of the heat stimulus was turned down on one arm without informing the volunteer. Then the intensity was returned to its previous level, but ( in contrast to the 16 people in the control group) 67% of the treatment group continued to perceive the heat as less painful.

The expectation of pain relief leads to a release of endorphins, which are the brain's natural pain killers, which is likely to contribute to a sensation of reward and well-being.

There was a split in the range of responses to the placebo; a third of people reporting a reduction in the pain intensity in the "treated" arm only, a third in both arms and the last thirds intensity-ratings were not being influenced by the application of the cream. The different responses can be related to the different levels of pain relief the volunteers expected, which may have allowed their individual suggestibility to influence their assessment of the pain experience.

The findings suggest that different individuals may have different styles of placebo response, which is likely to affect how they respond to real treatments also. So, if the mind is so powerful, shouldn't we be practicing how to harness it with self-hypnosis?

Hypnosis as a Type of Biofeedback

Hypnosis can be like a biofeedback mechanism which helps you use your mind to control your body. A trained practitioner guides you in using imagery, abdominal breathing , and sometimes uses music to relax your muscles, slow your heart rate or blood pressure, or achieve the desired brain-wave frequencies of alpha as you slip into the hypnotic state,. The goal is to learn to control your body on your own.

Hypnosis has been shown to be helpful in treating medical conditions, including headaches, asthma, hot flashes, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, incontinence, and nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Unlike medicine, hypnosis has no side effects. It offers people a way to take some control over their own health.

Did you know that blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract drops when anxiety increases. That is why people feel a knot in their stomach when they are feeling anxious. Learning to relax allows the blood to flow better and relieves pain.

The concept is the same as practicing the multiplication tables or like playing the piano. The more you praqctice the better you get. With more and more practice you are teaching your body how to do it better, more frequently and at your control. The more you use the muscle or your mind the stronger it gets.

The mind has a lot to do with how we're feeling!

Breath Training: One More Tool to Include in Self-Hypnosis

The FDA now approves breath-training as a recognized treatment for
hypertension~and over 1,000 additional studies show its effectiveness in
relieving anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue and more.

One MORE Reason to Use Hypnosis as A Means To Control Stress

Control Stress for Better Brain Health!

Researchers at the Scotland’s University of Edinburgh identified an area of the brain that can shrink as we age and cause depression and Alzheimer’s disease. They also believe that levels of stress hormones may directly promote that shrinkage. The research was published in the February 7, 2006 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

The part of the brain they believe is involved is called the anterior cingulated cortex (ACS). The scientist found that study participants with a smaller ACS had higher levels of stress hormones. They suggested that treating depression and Alzheimer’s with therapies that reduce these harmful chemicals is what is called for.

It’s important to get a handle on stress in general, and now at high stress Holiday time it is a good time to start. Helping our clients to learn how to use self-hypnosis can be our gift to them during this stressful season.

Another Reason to Use Hypnosis to Stop Smoking

An abstract I found regarding smoking and osteoarthritis:

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine studied the effects of smoking on knee osteoarthritis. They report while smokers with osteoarthritis are often younger and thinner, their pain and disease tend to be worse. Smokers are twice as likely to have significant cartilage loss compared to non-smokers.

The results of this study suggest smoking may alter pain thresholds, according to authors. Toxins from tobacco smoke may also contribute to cartilage loss.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006;166:2533-2538; Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2007;66:18-22

Hypnosis on the "Myth Buster" Show

I just got back from two full days of taping a show for "Myth Buster" on the Discovery Channel. The purpose of the show was to debunk the myth that hypnosis could make you do things you didn't want to do and some other "stuff".

I am about to take a nice warm shower and chill out a little but I did want to share something that was so validating about hypnosis. There were three "Myth Busters" and each one was hooked up to EEG and various biofeedback equipment during the "testing for suggestibility phase". The EEG totally correlated with the degree of suggestibility that the participants showed. During the actual hypnosis session, one could see the alpha waves going into theta as the participant went more and more deeply into hypnosis.

The misconceptions about hypnosis are so prevalent out there.

Let's Use Hypnosis to Help With That Stress That Affects the Skin

Below is an article from the VA hospital of San Francisco:

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco and the University of California-San Francisco showed how psychological stress induces skin abnormalities that could initiate or worsen skin disorders such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

Previous research has shown psychological stress increases glucocorticoid production. It is also well recognized that psychological stress adversely affects many skin disorders, including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

In this study, it was shown that the increase in glucocorticoids induced by psychological stress induces abnormalities in skin structure and function, which can exacerbate skin diseases. This finding provides a link for understanding how psychological stress can adversely affect skin disorders.

Blocking the production or action of glucocorticoids prevented the skin abnormalities induced by psychological stress. So, if we can help our clients with hypnosis to reduce the stress of their lives can we help them with their skin disorders? I know that I have been able to do just that.

December issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

Using Hypnosis for Insomnia for Recovering Alcoholics

From ScienceDaily.com I believe is this article about Alcoholism.

"Insomnia can get in the way for recovering alcoholics. What happens especially in the first few months of recovery, is that there is a loss of the sedative effects of alcohol. In addition, there is also long-term sleep-disrupting impact that alcohol dependence can have on the brain.

A new study gives further evidence that insomnia can get in the way of recovery from alcohol problems. The study also found that a person's perception of how bad their sleep problems are can be just as important as the actual sleep problems themselves.

In the new issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the research team from the University of Michigan's Department of Psychiatry reports the of a small but thorough evaluation of sleep, sleep perception and alcohol relapse. The study was conducted among 18 men and women with insomnia who were in the early stages of alcohol recovery.

The authors say how important it is for alcohol recovery patients, and those who are helping them through their recovery, to discuss sleep disturbances and seek help. Even though sleep isn't discussed in alcohol recovery programs they feel it should be. "

"The University of Michigan team have started a new study that aims to help those who have just entered treatment for alcohol problems, and are having trouble sleeping. Instead of using sleep medications, (which can be addictive in the own right) they feel that there should be a series of "talk therapy" sessions with a trained sleep therapist who can help patients change behaviors and patterns of thinking that contribute to sleep problems." This is certainly a place where I feel trained hypnotherapists can be of help.

"The researchers also found that those patients who had the biggest disconnect between their perception of how they slept and their actual sleep patterns were most likely to relapse. They felt that the results suggested that long-term drinking causes something to happen in the brain that interferes with both sleep and perception of sleep and therefore, sleep problems must be addressed.

Another interesting fact from the study was that the patients overestimated how long it took them to fall asleep.They thought hey had been awake in the middle of the night for far less time than they actually were. These perceptions about how they slept were actually more accurate in predicting their potential for relapse to alcohol use than were the actual sleep measurements.

The researchers explained that poor sleep quality can lead to mood disturbances and therefore more vulnerable to return to drinking. Previous studies show that nonalcoholics with insomnia actually think they are sleeping worse than they are, so they may be more likely to seek appropriate treatment. "

Read more about the study online by visiting http://www.umengage.org and searching for sleep studies.

Fibromyalgia Pain is Real! Hypnosis CAN Help!

Researchers say there is overwhelming proof that the condition is real.Researchers from the University of Michigan Health reviewed studies involving pain, brain activity and genetics of people suffering from the condition.

They cite several studies that reported abnormalities in the central brain structures of people with fibromyalgia. Another study revealed variations in a gene involved in pain tolerance created differences in the way healthy volunteers reacted to pain.

The researchers conclude patients diagnosed with this disorder should be taken seriously.

SOURCE: Current Pain and Headache Reports, 2006;10:403-407

We as hypnotherapists have always know Fibromyalgia is real. We have always know that hypnotherapy helps our clients.

Something to Help With Our Hypnosis Kids With Cancer

Here is a great story about an amazing boy who survived Leukemia. The Make a Wish Foundation agreed to grant him a wish, then he decided he wanted to help create a video game for other kids fighting cancer in which they could shoot cancer cells and have other visual metaphors related to their illness and treatment.

During Ben Duskin's battle with Leukemia, he played computer games, which helped him get through the treatment process. He began to think about the need to have something positive that helped other kids battle their illnesses. So he decided to design a video game that would
be helpful for kids like him who have cancer. This was a way for him to fight back and relieve some of the pain and stress involved with treatment.

A man named Eric Johnston, came forward with his employer LucasArts, and fully supported Mr. Johnson's efforts. For months, Ben and Eric met on a regular basis to make the game just as Ben envisioned it. They also had the support of UCSF and his medical team which was invaluable.

The object of the game is to destroy all mutated cells and to collect the seven shields that provide protection from common side effects of chemotherapy. The shields are guarded by a "monster":
• Colds - Iceman Monster
• Barf – Robarf Monster
• Chicken Pox –Big Chicken Monster
• Fever - Firemonster
• Bleeding – Vamp Monster
• Hair Loss – Qball Monster
• Rash – Tornado Monster

Three health levels serve as ammunition in the game:
• Health you get from the hospital
• Ammo you get from the pharmacy
• Attitude you get from home

To get a free download go to:
http://www.makewish.org/site/pp.asp?c=bdJLITMAE&b=81924

Another Fact for our "Stop Smoking with Hypnosis Clients"

Now that the former K.G.B. agent Alexander V. Litvinenko was found to have been poisoned by radioactive polonium 210 last week, there are some old facts that are coming to new attention.

The tobacco industry has been aware, since the 1960s, that cigarettes contain significant levels of polonium. Exactly how it gets into tobacco is not entirely understood, but uranium “daughter products” naturally present in soils seem to be selectively absorbed by the tobacco plant, where they decay into radioactive polonium. High-phosphate fertilizers may worsen the problem, since uranium tends to associate with phosphates. In 1975, Philip Morris scientists wondered whether the secret to tobacco growers’ longevity in the Caucasus might be that farmers there avoided phosphate fertilizers.

In 1968, the American Tobacco Company began a secret research effort to find out about how much polonium was in cigarettes. The researchers found that smokers inhale an average of about .04 picocuries of polonium 210 per cigarette. The company also filters did not trap the polonim isotopes.

A fraction of a trillionth of a curie doesn't sound like much, however, these are powerful radionuclide disgorging alpha particles that are considered the most dangerous kind when it comes to lung cancer. As it turns out, these are at a much higher rate even than the plutonium used in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Polonium 210 has a half life of about 138 days, making it thousands of times more radioactive than the nuclear fuels used in early atomic bombs.

If .04 picocuries of polonium are inhaled with every cigarette, about a quarter of a curie of one of the world’s most radioactive poisons is inhaled along with the tar, nicotine and cyanide of all the world’s cigarettes smoked each year. Pack-and-a-half smokers are dosed to the tune of about 300 chest X-rays.

Just thought you'd like to know.

A Study Regarding Using Hypnosis for Breast Biopsy

A new study has found out what we as hypnotherapists have known. Hypnosis, can help reduce a womens pain and anxiety during breast biopsy.

Dr. Elvira V. Lang, an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, worked on a study about the use of hypnosis for breast biopsies. In her studies she is quoted as saying, "The findings show that non-pharmacologic means can be very powerful -- without side effects,"
Their were 236 women at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who were randomly assigned to three different types of care while they were undergoing large-core needle biopsy as outpatients. They were divided this way:Seventy-six of the women received standard care; 82 received what was called structured "empathetic attention" (a person assigned to the specific woman so that they could be responsive to the women's needs); and 78 women induced self-hypnotic relaxation under instruction from a trained research assistant (not necessarily a certified hypnotist).

Here is how the hypnosis training of the women was taught: They were instructed to roll their eyes upward, close their eyes, breathe deeply, focus on the sensation of floating, and then to imagine a pleasant setting. (We call this "safe place hypnosis" in the hypnosis world.) As can be expected, before the start of the biopsies, all the women showed heightened anxiety levels. During the biopsies that were performed, the standard care group showed an increase in anxiety significantly, the anxiety did not change in the empathy group, and most importantly, there was a significant decrease in anxiety in the hypnosis group.

Although all three groups did report pain during the procedure, it is interesting to note that, the women in the empathy and hypnosis groups reported less pain than those in the standard care group. Of significance is the fact that it was also found that the hypnosis group had the shortest procedure times and lowest cost. This can be a significant fact to mention to surgeons and hospital administrators both when marketing the use of hypnosis.

A result of this study was that prior assumptions about mind-body interventions where changed and most significant was that the research allowed medical people to realize that self-hypnosis for relaxation can be learned very quickly right on the procedure table without additional cost. This challenges the notion that extensive office visits or preparation are necessary so that we can start to actually utilize hypnosis in the pre-operative area.

Having used self-hypnosis myself for a recent breast surgery, I can tell you that it absolutely helps to diminish the pre-operative anxiety level. I also utilized self-hypnosis during the procedure itself which was done with local anesthesia only. Previously, I had utilized self-hypnosis during the repair of a ventral and umbilical hernia under local anesthesia. The doctor was surprised at how quiet I was. He kept on stopping every once in awhile to ask me if I was okay. I was in my "Safe Place" which, is a common hypnotic technique used.

Chronic Back Pain Linked to Changes in The Brain-How Will This Affect Hypnosis?

From ScienceDaily.com :

A German research team using a specialized imaging technique revealed that individuals suffering from chronic low back pain also had microstructural changes in their brains. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America

The researchers, at University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, used a technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to track the movement of water molecules in the brain’s gray and white matter. With these objective and reproducible correlates in brain imaging, chronic pain may no longer be a subjective experience. For pain diagnosis and treatment, the consequences could be enormous.

Individual water molecules are constantly in motion, colliding with each other and other nearby molecules, causing them to spread out, or diffuse. DTI allows scientists to analyze water diffusion in the tissues of the brain that indicate changes in brain cell organization.

In normal white matter, water diffuses in one main direction, but when fiber pathways are developing during childhood or are extensively used, their microstructural organization becomes more organized and complex with measurable changes in diffusion.

The study consisted of 20 patients experiencing chronic back pain with no precisely identifiable cause and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy control patients. DTI was performed to measure the diffusion in several areas of each patient’s brain.

Compared to the healthy volunteers, the patients with chronic low back pain had a significantly more directed diffusion in the three pain-processing regions of the brain, including the cingulate gyrus, postcentral gyrus and superior frontal gyrus.

The results revealed that in chronic pain sufferers, the organization of cerebral microstructure was much more complex and active in the areas of the brain involved in pain processing, emotion and the stress response.

The researchers said the findings may help explain the extreme resistance to treatment for chronic low back pain and provide much-needed evidence for individual sufferers. However, it is unclear which occurs first, the chronic back pain or the microstructural changes in the brain.

“It’s difficult to know whether these are pre-existing changes in the brain that predispose an individual to developing chronic pain, whether ongoing pain creates the hyperactivity that actually changes the brain organization, or if it is some mixture of both,” Dr. Schelling, a researcher said. “DTI may help explain what’s happening for some of these patients, and direct therapeutic attention from the spine to the brain,” he added.

Link Between Stress and Cancer Shown-Let's Help by Using Hypnosis!

From ScienceDaily.com:

Norepinephrine, a hormone produced during periods of stress, may increase the growth rate of cancer.

The norepinephrine can stimulate tumor cells to produce two compounds (matrix metalloproteinases called MMP-2 and MMP-9) that break down the tissue around the tumor cells and allow the cells to more easily move into the bloodstream. Then, they can travel to other organs and tissues and form additional tumors. Thus, metastatic disease.

Norepinephrine may also stimulate the tumor cells to release a chemical known as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) that can aid in the growth of the blood vessels that feed cancer cells. This also increase the growth and spread of the cancer.

Researchers traced the harmful effect of norepinephrine after applying it to cancer cell lines used to study nasopharyngeal carcinoma (an incurable head and neck cancer associated most frequently with those of Chinese descent).

Cancer Research November 1, 2006; 66(21): 10357-10364


As hypnotherapists, we know all too well the effect of stress on the body. We have seen how the use of hypnosis can lead to stress reduction and the reduction of sometimes destructive emotions to the body.

If Hypnosis Can Help With Stress, Can It Help Defend Against Disease?

From ScienceDaily.com is the following article:

Can stress reduction help our bodies defend against cancer? Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh researchers addressing this question believe it might be so.

In the Journal of the National Cancer Institute they discussed a reaction to an analysis of the association between the experience of stress among breast cancer patients and the function of their immune system reported by psychologist Barbara Andersen of The Ohio State University.

Cohen and Rabin evaluate evidence for stress-elicited immune change influencing cancer progression. They feel there is substantial evidence that psychological stress can alter immune function. But, the role of the immune system in cancer is less clear. There are questions as to whether the types of changes in immunity that occur under stress are the same types that might be important for cancer. Also discussed were studies that demonstrate that interventions designed to reduce stress might lessen cancer recurrence and prolong life.

They do point out that it is still unclear whether the beneficial effects of stress-reduction occur because of changes in immune function. They suggests that existing evidence is consistent with an important role of stress-elicited immune changes in cancer but that convincing evidence for such a link is still a ways off.

Cohen is the author of two landmark studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that link stress to immune function. The New England Journal of Medicine report in 1991 was the first to link stress as a cause of the common cold. A 1997 JAMA report revealed that people with diverse social roles and supportive social networks are less likely to develop colds.
elicited immune changes in cancer but that convincing evidence for such a link is still a ways off.

My question is can we as hypnotherapist play a role in helping the immune system fend off disease? I believe so!

Using Hypnosis to Help Make People Happier and Healthier

Happy People Are Healthier

According to a study published in the journal "Psychosomatic Medicine" by Carnegie Mellon University, happiness and positive emotions play a very important role in health .

"It says that happiness and positive emotions play an even more important role in health than previously thought.This recent study confirms the results of a landmark 2004 paper in which it was found that people who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to become ill when they are exposed to a cold virus than those who report few of these emotions. In that study,it was found that when they do come down with a cold, happy people report fewer symptoms than would be expected from objective measures of their illness.

In contrast, reporting more negative emotions such as depression, anxiety and anger was not associated with catching colds. That study, however, left open the possibility that the greater resistance to infectious illness among happier people may not have been due to happiness, but rather to other characteristics that are often associated with reporting positive emotions such as optimism, extraversion, feelings of purpose in life and self-esteem. "

It was found that people who report positive emotions are less likely to catch colds and less likely to report symptoms when they do get sick. These findings held true regardless of levels of optimism, extraversion, purpose and self-esteem, and also regardless of their age, race, gender, education, body mass or prestudy immunity to the virus.

"We need to take more seriously the possibility that positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk," said Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon.

Volunteers were interviewed over several weeks to assess their moods and emotional styles, and then infected them with either a rhinovirus or an influenza virus. They were quarantined and examined to see if they came down with a cold. This was the same method Cohen applied in his previous study, but with the addition of the influenza virus.

Let's Use Hypnosis to Help Diabetic Clients Make Lifestyle Changes

In "The Lancet", 2006;368:1673-1679 it was reported that intensive exercise and diet may be the key to reducing the risk of developing diabetes. .

Originally there was a Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. In the original study, the participants included overweight, middle-aged people with impaired glucose tolerance. The participants were randomly assigned to an intensive lifestyle intervention or a control group. The lifestyle intervention group was given individualized counseling in order to lose weight, decrease intake of fat and saturated fat, increase fiber intake, and exercise at least 30 minutes a day.

In the original study, participants were followed for four years. The intervention group achieved a 58-percent reduction in risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to the control group.

Then, after three years, a follow up study was done and was published in the current Lancet. It was reported that participants in the intervention group maintained a 36-percent reduction in risk of developing diabetes. The study showed that even after counseling had ended, a marked difference in reducing the risk of diabetes can be achieved. They concluded that this study reveals an important message. It was that an intensive lifestyle intervention lasting only a limited time can yield benefits that last a lot longer.

As hypnotherapists, we can facilitate great and everlasting change. We can help our clients to release any negative emotions that may be blocking creating positive change. We can install wonderful positive suggestions for life!

Hypnosis, Positive Emotions and Blood Pressure

A study of more than 2,600 Hispanic seniors (Psychosomatic Medicine September-October 2006; 68(5): 727-733) showed that the higher a person scored on a questionnaire measuring positive emotions, the lower his or her blood pressure was. The effect was strongest among people who were not taking any drugs to lower their blood pressure.

All of the subjects completed a questionnaire that ranked their degree of positive emotions on a scale of 0 to 12. Higher scores directly translated into lower blood pressure readings.

Studies show that positive emotions can help keep a person's responses in balance, and that people then handle stress better. We as hypnotherapists can help our clients learn how to percieve things differently and enhance ones positive emotions.Improving people's emotional well-being is an effective way to help control their blood pressure as well.

Using Hypnosis with Infertility

Research studies have documented the correlation between stress and infertility since the 1980s. Recently, a look at depressive symptoms and their impact on biology has offered new hope and a mind/body approach has proved to be a heartening success for some women.

Women with a history of depressive symptoms reported twice the rate of subsequent infertility (Psychosomatic Medicine, 1995, vol. 57).

Women with depression, when treated showed a 60 percent viable pregnancy rate within six months, contrasting with 24 percent when depression went untreated. (Journal of American Medical Womens Association, 1999, vol.54)

Women who experienced depression following the failure of their first in vitro fertilization (IVF), had much lower pregnancy rates that their non depressed counterparts during their second IVF cycle (Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 1993, vol. 37)

Another study (Fertility Sterility, 1998, vol. 69) suggests that because mind/body programs are effective for reducing negative emotions that may impair IVF success, patients should be offered such a program in conjunction with IVF.

How does this mind/body connection between depression and fertility work? Stress brought on by anxiety and/or depression can alter immune function. We all know about how the effects of depression can lower our immunity, making us more vulnerable to colds and other viruses during emotionally stressful periods. If you continue with that thought process, if is easy to see how our system can get out of balance by our thoughts! Even our ability to conceive!

Reproduction is a very delicately balanced biological systems. Psychological stress can affect our ability to get pregnant on multiple levels, including inhibition of the hypothalamus that helps regulate hormonal levels, or over activation of the hypothalamus which can change the pituitary and adrenal responses. The pituitary regulates both how much of a hormone is made and how much is released in the body, its alteration can have dramatic effects on the hormonal balance necessary for ovulation, fertilization, tubal functioning or even successful implantation of the egg once it reaches the womb.

Even when women have not been depressed previously, depression often occurs by the second to third year of infertility and does not return to normal levels until six years later. However, researchers have recently become proactive in studying the effects of treatment for non depressed women before they get depressed. Here is certainly a place for hypnptherapy!

A study reported in Reproductive Endocrinology (April 2000, vol. 73, issue 4), treated women who were in their second year of infertility and not yet depressed. The women who received group psychological interventions to change the tide of depression caused by infertility, had significantly increased viable pregnancies compared to those who did not receive preventative treatment for depression.

Research indicates that psychological distress may impair fertility and that depressive symptoms may reduce the efficacy of infertility treatment. Several studies support the theory that psychological distress can have a significant adverse impact on successive rates in-vitro fertilization. In one study, women with depressive symptoms were half as likely to conceive as women who were not depressed, and in the most recent study of 151 women scheduled to undergo an IVF cycle the chance of a live birth was 93 percent higher in women with the highest positive-affect score. Researchers concluded that the success rates of high-tech infertility treatment can be adversely affected by psychological stress.

Mind/body treatment of infertility patients has been shown to both increase pregnancy rates as well as reducing psychological distress. In another study conducted, at the MBMI, 185 women who had been trying to conceive for one to two years were randomized into either a 10 week mind/body group, a ten week support group, or a routine care control group. The birth rates during the one year follow up period were as follows: - Mind/body 55%, support 54%, and controls 20%. The mind/body patients reported significantly greater psychological improvements than the support or control patients.

Patients in the clinical Mind/Body Program for Infertility show benefits as well; in four published studies on several hundred women with an infertility duration of 3.5 years, 42 percent conceived within six months of completing the program and there were significant decreases in all measured psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety and anger.

Infertile women report elevated levels of psychological distress and this distress may reduce their chances of conceiving. Mind/body treatment has been shown to be effective in both significantly increasing pregnancy rates as well as reducing psychological stress.


Selected references on the Relationship between stress and fertility

1. Domar, A., Clapp, D., Slawsby, E., Dusek, J., Kessel, B., Freizinger, M (2000) Impact of group psychological interventions on pregnancy rates in infertile women. Fertility and Sterility Vol. 73, no.4 April

2. Domar, A., Zuttermeister, P., Friedman, R (1999) Distress and Conception in Infertile Women: A complementary approach. Journal of the American Medical Women's Association. Vol. 54, No.4

3. Demyttenaere K, Bonte L, Gheldof M, Veraeke M, Meuleman C, Vanderschuerem D, et al. (1998) Coping style and depression level influence outcome in vitro fertilization. Fertility and Sterility. 69:1026-1033

4. Domar, A (1996) Stress and Infertility in Women: Is there a relationship? Division of Behavioural Medicine, Deaconess Hospital Mind/Body Institute, Harvard Medical School. Psychotherapy in Practice 2/2:17-27

5. Domar, A., Zuttermeister, P., Friedman, R (1993) The Psychological impact of infertility: a comparison with patients with other medical conditions Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetric Gynaecology. 14 Special issue 45-52

6. Wasser, S., Sewal, G., & Soules, M. (1993) Psychosocial stress as a cause of infertility. Fertility & Sterility, 59, 685-689

7. Domar, A., Seibel, M., & Benson, H (1990) The Mind/Body Program for Infertility: A new treatment program for women with infertility. Fertility and Sterility, 53, 246-249

8. Pennebaker, J., Kiecolt-Glasser, J & Glasser, R. (1987) Disclosure of traumas and immune function. Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 239-245

Heavy Smoking Cuts Women's Chance Of Pregnancy -- Even With Donated Eggs -Another Reason to Quit Smoking With Hypnosis

Heavy smoking may reduce female fertility by directly affecting the uterus ( by making it less receptive and reducing the chances the embryo will implant) according to research published online (Thursday 9 November) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction.

This suggestion comes as a result of comparing the pregnancy rates between non-heavy smokers and heavy smokers, all of whom received donated eggs.

This study is the first to examine the impact of smoking in women who have received donated eggs. This allows for a objective assessment of the role of the uterus in the outcome of IVF.

The researchers studied all the first cycles of egg-donated IVF treatments 741 in non-heavy smokers (under 10 cigarettes a day) and 44 in heavy smokers (over 10 a day). None of the women's partners were smokers and none of the egg donors were heavy smokers. The two groups of recipients were comparable and the number of embryos transferred in each cycle (between one and three) was also comparable between the groups.

Lead researcher Dr Sérgio Soares, said: "The non-heavy smokers had a significantly higher pregnancy rate, with over half becoming pregnant (52.2%), compared with just over a third (34.1%) of the heavy smokers. This means we have confirmed previous data that show light smoking has no significant impact on IVF cycles, either through affecting the egg or the uterus. However, heavy smokers have a much lower chance of achieving pregnancy. The fact that we see this result in a situation in which the egss were donated by other women demonstrates that cigarette smoking negatively affects the receptiveness of the uterus independently of its effect on ovarian function, and this is a new finding....The clinical implications of the findings were clear. Tobacco makes the uterus less likely to accept an embryo."

We should now let our clients know, if they are heavy smokers, that even if fertilisation takes place they have less chance of achieving a successful pregnancy, whether they are trying to conceive naturally, or through IVF, and particularly with donated eggs.

One more reason for females to use hypnosis to stop smoking NOW!

Can We Use Hypnosis to Help Heal Childhood Trauma in Dealing With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

An unhappy childhood may be linked to severe fatigue and chronic aches in adulthood according to a recent study from Wichita, Kansas. People who experienced emotional pain and trauma early in their lives are at greater risk of suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome affects between 400,000 and 900,000 adults in the United States.

CFS is defined as an unexplained continuous or recurring fatigue that may be accompanied by headaches, memory loss, and muscle pain. No direct cause for the syndrome is yet known.

A questionnaire measuring childhood trauma disorders to CFS patients and individuals without it was used. CFS-diagnosed adults reported greater trauma incidence than those without the syndrome. Victims of childhood sexual abuse and emotional neglect had a stronger link with CFS.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients were more likely to show symptoms of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Researchers suggested this may be due to the patients' inability to manage anxiety and stress levels in the face of adversity.

It was felt that the disorder might actually reflect the brain's inability to adapt or compensate in response to challenge, which leads toward the poor responses and ultimately disease.


SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, 2006;63:1258-1266:1267-1272

It is my thought based on experience that we have a wonderfully powerful gift of the ability of hypnotherapy to emotional heal past traumas and perceptions. Very often "Parts Therapy" and "Forgiveness" processes can open the door to a new life!

Hypnosis and Back Pain

Lower back pain relief can be provided by using Hypnotherapy.However, one must always tell patients to consult a medical professional before utilizing any form of pain control because the condition could worsen while blocking the pain. Hypnotherapy works with the brain and can provide instant relief.

According to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) "Integration of Behavioral and Relaxation Approaches into the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Insomnia", a recommendation is for the use of hypnosis:
"Hypnosis, in part because of its capacity for evoking intense relaxation, has been reported to reduce several types of pain (e.g., lower back and burn pain). Hypnosis has been hypothesized to block pain from entering consciousness by activating the frontal-limbic attention system to inhibit pain impulse transmission from thalamic to cortical structures."

Hypnotherapy for pain control helps patients learn to:
1. Control, diminish or redirect pain to tolerable levels
2• Turn their pain off completely
3• Reprogram negative attitudes
4• Become aware of secondary gain issues
5• Learn self hypnosis to reinforce pain management techniques
6• Relax muscles, decrease stress levels and break the stress/pain cycle

I used hypnotherapy in 1987 for a torn disc and avoided the back surgery and fusion that was suggested to me. I not only used hypnotherapy for pain control but also for visualization of the healing process.

Hypnosis Helps Ellen Degeneres Stop Smoking

I thought you would like to see the video of part of a smoking cessation session with Ellen Degeneres.

Here it is: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1zQWJ7XI9aM

How The Immune System Avoids Attacking Itself? Interesting Facts for Hypnotherapists Who Work With the Immune System

From ScienceDaily.com:

A finding by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers about how immune cells "decide" to become active or inactive may have applications in fighting cancerous tumors, autoimmune diseases, and organ transplant rejection. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Professor Gary A. Koretzky, MD, PhD, director of the Signal Transduction Program at Penn's Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute describes, in the current issue of Nature Immunology, one way in which T cells may develop tolerance to host cells and proteins. Koretzky and colleagues found that small fatty acids called diacylglycerols (DAGs), and the enzymes that metabolize them, are critical players in the molecular pathway that leads to activity versus inactivity.

T lymphocytes recognize invaders in the body, such as viruses, bacteria, tumor cells, or allergens. Normally, T cells are activated by a complex series of signals that end with the destruction of the foreign substance. However, some T cells are not activated, in fact they are inactivated by a process called anergy or tolerance. This process helps prevent immune cells from attacking themselves and other normal cells and proteins.

Discovery shows that DAGs are critical for T-cell activation so these cells can respond to foreign invaders. However, when DAGs are chemically modified by enzymes called diacylglycerol kinases, T cells become tolerant or unresponsive to foreign substances and to self.

The discovery was made by studying mice that had been engineered to lack diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs). Although T cells from these knock-out mice were normal in most respects the induction of tolerance was impaired. When DAGs could not be chemically altered because the DGKs were absent, the T cells were hyperreactive to foreign antigens and could not be made tolerant to host cells.

Hyperreactivity was shown when purified T cells from DGK knockout mice were stimulated by antigen in a culture dish. The failure of the T cells to become tolerant was demonstrated in experiments where mice were treated with a toxin from staphylococcal bacteria that should have induced unresponsiveness. Instead, the T cells produced about five times more of an immunity factor than did cells from normal mice.

The hyperreactive state, if controlled, might be beneficial to the body under some circumstances; for example, some T cells might be made more effective at eliminating tumors. The research team is continuing to study DGK knock-out mice to see if they are more resistant to tumors. If the hyper-reactive T cells in these mice recognize the tumor cell as a foreign invader, then the tumor might be eliminated or reduced. Conversely, if the tolerant state could be induced in a controlled manner, it might benefit individuals with autoimmune disease or help prevent rejection of transplants

Stress, Cancer and the Use of Hypnosis

Stress Hormones May Play New Role In Speeding Up Cancer Growth.New research suggests that hormones produced during periods of stress may increase the growth rate of a particularly nasty kind of cancer. Below is part of an article appearing in Science Daily .com today:

The study showed that an increase in norepinephrine, a stress hormone, can stimulate tumor cells to produce two compounds. These compounds can break down the tissue around the tumor cells and allow the cells to more easily move into the bloodstream. From there, they can travel to another location in the body to form additional tumors, a process called metastasis.

The research also suggests the same hormone can also stimulate the tumor cells to release another compound that can aid in the growth of new blood vessels that feed cancer cells, hastening the growth and spread of the disease. The work was reported in the latest issue of the journal Cancer Research.

“This opens up an entirely new way of looking at stress and cancer that's different from current interpretations,” explained Ronald Glaser, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University .

Glaser and Eric Yang, a research scientist in the same institute, focused on the role of these three compounds. Two of them, both matrix metalloproteinases -- MMP-2 and MMP-9 -- play a role in breaking down the scaffolding that cells attach to in order to maintain their shape. The third compound, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is important in the growth of new blood vessels into tumor cells.

Earlier work by researcher Anil Sood at the University of Texas had shown that the same stress hormones can stimulate ovarian tumor cells to produce these three compounds. The key to that discovery was that the two stress hormones – epinephrine and norepinephrine – would bind to places on the surface of ovarian cancer cells, called adrenergic receptors, and stimulate the release of MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF which might then foster cancer growth.

The Ohio State team wanted to see if the same occurred with other cancer cells.

They turned to cell lines Glaser had developed decades ago to study nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a serious, incurable head and neck cancer that occurs most frequently among people of Chinese descent.They treated Glaser's cell line with norepinephrine and, as predicted, the cells all produced MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF. This showed that the receptors for this hormone were present on cells in Glaser's cell line, but that might have been just a laboratory aberration in the tissue cultures.

“We needed to see how relevant this finding was to what happened with actual tumors,” he said. Glaser asked colleagues for samples of actual NPC tumors to look for the presence of similar receptors. They studied tumor samples which included different types of NPC tumors. All had the sought-after receptors.

“From this we can say that there is likelihood that all NPC tumors will have these receptors as well,” he said.

“MMP-2 and MMP-9 contribute to the aggressiveness of these tumors,” Yang said. “It isn't clear exactly how they are operating but they may work with VEGF to facilitate blood vessel growth in new tumors so that they can grow.”

The target adrenergic receptors for these hormones are well-known to clinicians dealing with high-blood-pressure patients. Typically, such patients are given a class of drugs known as beta-blockers which lead to a lowering of blood pressure levels.

Glaser and Yang wanted to see how these same drugs affected these tumor cells. They added propanol, a beta-blocker, to the tumor cells and then exposed them to both norepinepherine and epinephrine. With the drug present, the levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF didn't increase.

“This suggests a new approach to possibly fight some cancers – the prescribing of beta-blocker-type drugs that would block these receptors and perhaps slow the progression of the disease,” Glaser said.

“Using this approach may not cure this cancer but perhaps we could slow down its growth, making the tumor more sensitive to anti-cancer therapy, and therefore extending the patient's lifespan and improve their quality of life.”

Support for this research came from the National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Gilbert and Kathryn Mitchell Endowment and the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center.

It seems to me that using hypnosis as a way to deal with and release stress is a "no-brainer". We can use hypnosis as a way to also help with emotional healing which is a stress reliever within itself.

Trying To Control Pain With Hypnosis

From ScienceDaily.com:

"Scientists have shown for the first time why a feeling of control helps us reduce pain. The research was carried out at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL, London.

Using MRI scanners the research showed that when people feel that they can control their pain, an area of their prefrontal cortex associated with a feeling of security is activated. The findings are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

When faced with pain beyond their control, people who tend to feel more in control of their own lives show a lower response in the prefrontal cortex, which indicates that they are less effective in coping with pain than those who don't expect to have control.

Patients with persistent pain say that the fact that there is nothing they can do against the pain makes them feel helpless. This feeling of being out of control seemed to tend to worsen the pain. On the other hand, teaching persistent pain patients psychological coping strategies to handle their pain usually did help reduce its effects.

Dr Wiech and her team set up an experiment to investigate how people cope with pain. In the first stage, volunteers were given an electric stimulus to the backs of their hands and told that they could stop the pain at any point. In the second stage, they were told that the decision to stop the pain was out of their control and could only be stopped by a person or computer outside the room.

With the MRI, the researchers were able to show that a number of areas of the brain were activated according to whether the volunteer felt in control of the pain. Most important was the anterolateral prefrontal cortex, which is associated with successful coping with feelings of anxiety.

The team also analysed the subjects' outlook on life, examining whether they felt in control of their own lives. They found that while the subjects' outlook did not affect the anterolateral prefrontal cortex when they controlled the stimulus, when they were not able to stop the painful stimulation subjects with no control expectations were better at activating this brain region than those with a strong control belief.

The findings support the practice of "acceptance-based therapy" whereby doctors focus on training patients to cope with the pain rather than attempting to make the pain go away.

Rather than constantly battling pain, the research supports the view that it is better to provide a patient with the tools to cope with his or her persistent pain.
They found that many people with pain are over achievers and tend to do more than they have to. This is why they teach people with persistent pain a toolbox of self-management skills to support them to manage their day-to-day pain. "

I have always known this in my hypnotherapy practice. Having experienced chronic pain myself, I remember that feeling of being out of control and what a gift it was to learn self-hypnosis and get my life back. This is what we as hypnotherapists due for our clients.

Hypnosis for Children

I have found it pure joy to work with children using hypnosis. Hypnosis is a good way to stop children's bad habits such as thumb sucking and bed wetting and physical conditions also.

Ran Anbar, a professor at the SUNY Upstate University Medical Center in New York, is speaking at the Pediatric Society's annual conference this week.

He believes a range of childhood problems, including asthma, headaches and abdominal pain as well as psychological issues like thumb sucking and bed wetting, can be helped by hypnosis.

"What people think of as hypnosis can be misleading. It is not all about putting people to sleep and mind control. I can't make people do anything they don't want to do, I can just help them to change if they want."

Anbar became interested in hypnosis when his three-year-old daughter had to have surgery for a heart problem.

"She was very worried about having the bandages taken off so I developed a technique to help her– it is a bit like distraction," he said. "I involved her with other things so she didn't notice the bandages being taken off. "I would say 85 per cent of the young people I have treated have seen improvements in their conditions."

Can We Use Hypnosis to Help Multiple Sclerosis Clients?

From ScienceDaily.com:

Researchers have identified how the body’s own immune system contributes to the nerve fiber damage caused by multiple sclerosis, a finding that can potentially aid earlier diagnosis and improved treatment for this chronic disease.

The study reveals how immune system B-cells damage axons during MS attacks by inhibiting energy production in these nerve fiber cells, ultimately causing them to degenerate and die. Study results appear in the Oct. 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology.

In this study, Dr. Yufen Qin and fellow researchers from UC Irvine’s School of Medicine analyzed spinal fluid and tissue samples from MS patients to identify substances that stimulate a B-cell immune response. They noted an increased level of B-cell antibodies on lesions and in spinal fluid bound to two specific enzymes – GAPDH and TPI.

These two enzymes are essential for efficient energy production. The researchers believe that the binding of these antibodies to these enzymes – GAPDH, in particular – may lower the amounts of ATP – the chemical fuel for cells – available in cells, which eventually can lead to axon cell degeneration and death. In addition to the energy-production function, GAPDH is involved with a number of genetic activities, such as RNA translocation, DNA replication and DNA repair.

Other recent studies have shown that binding of inhibitors to GAPDH and TPI causes decreased ATP production in neurons, followed by progressive neuronal degeneration and death.

“This research is exciting and potentially important for future treatments because it identifies new antibodies associated with MS that can be targeted with emerging therapies,” said Qin, an assistant professor of neurology. “Significantly, these are the first antibodies to be identified with axon activity, which is a new area researchers are exploring in the pathology of MS.”

Much MS research is focused on an autoimmune process in which T-cells attack and damage myelin, the fatty insulating tissue of axons. These T-cells do not attack axons themselves; the process of demyelination interrupts electrical impulses that run through these nerve fibers, thus causing MS symptoms. Demyelination has been considered the central feature of MS.

Instead of targeting myelin, these B-cells attack axons directly. Axons are the long, slender fibers of a neuron that serve as the primary transmission lines of the nervous system, and as bundles they help make up nerves.

Research at UCI and elsewhere has shown that myelin grows back if the T-cell autoimmune response is turned off, and drugs exist or are in development to block demyelination. Axons, in turn, repair very slowly, which implies that B-cell attacks on axons may have a significant impact on the chronic central nervous system damage caused by MS.

Can we use hypnosis to communicate with our immune systems?

Hypnosis for Chronic Pain

As a Nurse Anesthetist, I was naturally lead to the field of hypnosis as a way to deal with pain. I used self hypnosis to deal with back pain and neck pain and stay away from surgery and drugs.

Researchers from the University of Iowa are studying whether hypnosis can relieve chronic pain. They believe the technique is effective in between 65 percent and 70 percent of patients. Research suggests hypnosis may work by changing the way the brain receives impulses.

Did you know that 10 million Americans have back pain, 8 million have fibromyalgia, and 40 million have chronic headaches. There are about 50 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain.Interestingly, only about half of these patients benefit from standard treatment.

Hypnosis Boosts Fertility

In Israel, there was a study of 89 women undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization. Women who where having IVF were nearly twice as likely to become pregnant if they were hypnotized during embyo transfers as women whose transfers were trance free (53% versus 30%).

Hypnosis enhances relaxation during stressful procedures such as IVF. Stress hormones that increase uterine contractions and prevent the embryo from implanting are thought to be a reason by the researchers.

I know that when I have worked with IVF patients in the past, hypnosis indeed helped to relieve stress. Hypnosis also helped to relieve the fears of becoming a parent which might have been contributing to the overall feelings of stress and anxiety. One of the other ways in which I have used hypnosis for successful implantation ( a beautiful baby boy was concieved and born) was to actually have the client visualize the embryo sticking to the wall of the uterus.

Using Hypnosis to Help Children Manage Getting Shots

I either found this article on Ivanhoe or Science Daily.com:

"A new review, in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, looked at 28 randomized controlled studies that excluded children with known needle phobias. The procedures studied included vaccinations, lumbar punctures and bone marrow aspirations. Nearly 2,000 children and teenagers participated

The goal of the review was to identify the best psychological interventions for reducing pain and distress in children and teenagers undergoing a needle procedure. “This way, health care professionals, parents and even the children themselves, can have options to help make their experience less painful and distressing,” said lead reviewer Lindsay Uman, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Techniques included cognitive interventions — such as distraction, hypnosis or having the child repeat positive thoughts such as “I can do this.” Also analyzed were behavioral interventions such as breathing exercises or muscle relaxation, or combinations of cognitive and behavioral interventions. Some techniques were quite simple, while others involved video games, television or virtual reality headsets that provided both audio and visual stimulation.

The techniques with the most evidence for their effectiveness in reducing pain and distress during needle procedures include distraction, combined cognitive and behavioral interventions and hypnosis.

Distraction can be as simple as having the child count or listen to a story, television, video or music while getting the shot. A very young child might even be distracted by blowing soap bubbles.


“Cognitive-behavioral interventions are those aimed at targeting thoughts (cognitions) and behaviors. They are designed to help the child develop and apply coping skills in order to manage the pain and distress. Health professionals can explain what will happen so that the child knows what to expect, and also encourage the child to use a distraction during the procedure.

Hypnosis has been taught to children in as little as one or two sessions plus some practice time. “Hypnosis is a skill that the children can then take home with them and use again during other subsequent procedures,” Uman said. “Furthermore, the evidence shows that hypnosis is effective in reducing both pain and distress during needle procedures, specifically during more invasive ones such as bone marrow aspirations and lumbar punctures.”

Although topical anesthetics can help reduce the pain of a shot, they often need to be applied in advance. In contrast, the majority of psychological interventions can be used quickly and easily and do not need much advance preparation, Uman said.

With children getting up to 20 vaccinations or other injections during their childhood, managing the pain is important. Needles are among the most feared experiences for children. And in a classic vicious cycle, the more a child fears the pain of a needle, the worse for everyone involved, and the fear only makes the next needle experience even worse. "

Health professionals should always be able to do something to help children be less fearful of getting a shot and hypnosis is a wonderful way to go!



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Let's Use Hypnosis Early on for Smoking Cessation

Early Nicotine use Re-Writes the Brain for Addiction

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Starting young may make it harder to quit smoking as
an adult. New research reveals nicotine actually changes the cells in the
brains of young smokers.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center exposed young and
middle-aged people to nicotine and compared their responses to nicotine
exposure. They report the younger subjects, especially males, had a
pronounced breakdown of nerve cell membranes in the brain. These changes
could alter the "hardwiring" of the brain and make an addiction to nicotine
in adult years more likely.

One in four teenagers are smokers in the United States. While this number is
down from years past, some experts say not enough is being done to help the
teens who are actively addicted to nicotine

Using Hypnosis to Motivate Weight Management

From ScienceDaily.com:

Eating a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fruits, vegetables and olive oil and includes little red meat, is associated with a lower risk for Alzheimer's disease, according to an article in the December 2006 issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This association persisted even when researchers considered whether individuals had vascular diseases--diseases of the blood vessels, such as stroke, heart disease and diabetes--suggesting that the diet may work through different pathways to reduce Alzheimer's disease risk.

The Mediterranean diet consists of high amounts of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals and fish, mild to moderate amounts of alcohol and low amounts of red meat and dairy products. This diet has been associated with a lower risk for several diseases and risk factors, including cancer, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, problems with processing glucose that may lead to diabetes, coronary heart disease and overall death.

Nikolaos Scarmeas, M.D., and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, studied whether the Mediterranean diet could also help prevent Alzheimer's disease--a debilitating neurodegenerative disease--in a group of 1,984 adults with an average age of 76.3. The participants, 194 of whom already had Alzheimer's disease and 1,790 of whom did not, were given complete physical and neurological examinations and a series of tests of brain function. Their diet over the previous year was analyzed and scored based on how closely it adhered to the principles of the Mediterranean diet--scores ranged from zero to nine, with higher scores indicating eating patterns that aligned closely with the Mediterranean diet.

Eating a diet that closely followed the Mediterranean model was associated with a significantly lower risk for Alzheimer's disease. For each additional unit on the diet score, risk for Alzheimer's disease decreased by 19 to 24 percent. The researchers considered other factors that could influence Alzheimer's disease risk, including age and body mass index, those who were in the top one-third of the diet scores had 68 percent lower odds of having Alzheimer's disease than those in the bottom one-third, and those in the middle-one third had 53 percent lower odds.

Growing evidence links the Mediterranean diet to a reduced risk for vascular disease and suggests that vascular risk factors may contribute to the risk for Alzheimer's disease. Vascular variables are likely to be in the causal pathway between the Mediterranean diet and Alzheimer's disease and should be considered as possible mediators. When the researchers considered vascular risk factors in the models, the association between the Mediterranean diet and Alzheimer's disease did not change.

As hypnotherapists, we can help our clients motivate themselves to eat healthy which can affect their lives in a positive way.

So How Does Hypnosis Work?

I ran across this write-up on how hypnosis works. I cannot locate where I originally ran across it but I wanted to share it with others who are curious.

"Although hypnosis has been shown to reduce pain perception, it is not clear how the technique works.

Researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the Technical University of Aachen, Germany, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to find out if hypnosis alters brain activity in a way that might explain pain reduction. The results were reported in the November-December 2004 issue of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

The researchers found that volunteers under hypnosis experienced significant pain reduction in response to painful heat. They also had a distinctly different pattern of brain activity compared to when they were not hypnotized and experienced the painful heat. The changes in brain activity suggest that hypnosis somehow blocks the pain signal from getting to the parts of the brain that perceive pain.

They saw reduced activity in areas of the pain network and increased activity in other areas of the brain under hypnosis.The increased activity might be specific for hypnosis or might be non-specific, but it definitely does something to reduce the pain signal input into the cortical structure.'

The pain network functions like a relay system with an input pain signal from a peripheral nerve going to the spinal cord where the information is processed and passed on to the brain stem. From there the signal goes to the mid-brain region and finally into the cortical brain region that deals with conscious perception of external stimuli like pain.

Processing of the pain signal through the lower parts of the pain network looked the same in the brain images for both hypnotized and non-hypnotized trials, but activity in the top level of the network, which would be responsible for "feeling" the pain, was reduced under hypnosis.

Initially, 12 volunteers at the Technical University of Aachen had a heating device placed on their skin to determine the temperature that each volunteer considered painful (8 out of 10 on a 0 to 10 pain scale). The volunteers were then split into two groups. One group was hypnotized, placed in the fMRI machine and their brain activity scanned while the painful thermal stimuli was applied. Then the hypnotic state was broken and a second fMRI scan was performed without hypnosis while the same painful heat was again applied to the volunteer's skin. The second group underwent their first fMRI scan without hypnosis followed by a second scan under hypnosis.

Hypnosis was successful in reducing pain perception for all 12 participants. Hypnotized volunteers reported either no pain or significantly reduced pain (less than 3 on the 0-10 pain scale) in response to the painful heat.

Under hypnosis, fMRI showed that brain activity was reduced in areas of the pain network, including the primary sensory cortex, which is responsible for pain perception.

The imaging studies also showed increased activation in two other brain structures - the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia. The researchers speculate that increased activity in these two regions may be part of an inhibition pathway that blocks the pain signal from reaching the higher cortical structures responsible for pain perception. However,researcher Schulz-Stubner noted that more detailed fMRI images are needed to definitively identify the exact areas involved in hypnosis-induced pain reduction, and he hoped that the newer generation of fMRI machines would be capable of providing more answers.

"Imaging studies like this one improve our understanding of what might be going on and help researchers ask even more specific questions aimed at identifying the underlying mechanism," Schulz-Stubner said. "It is one piece of the puzzle that moves us a little closer to a final answer for how hypnosis really works.

"More practically, for clinical use, it helps to dispel prejudice about hypnosis as a technique to manage pain because we can show an objective, measurable change in brain activity linked to a reduced perception of pain," he added."

In Hypnosis We Deal a Lot with Irritable Bowel, Here Is Some Interesting Research

From ScienceDaily.com:

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a protein that is made in the intestinal lining and targets microbial invaders. This offering insights into how the intestine fends off pathogens and maintains friendly relations with symbiotic microbes.

The research team used mice raised inside sterile plastic bubbles. Because they are never in contact with the outer, microbe-filled world, these mice do not have the bacteria that normally colonize the gut. By exposing these "germ-free" mice to different types of gut bacteria, the researchers were able to observe how the epithelial cells lining the intestine reacts to microbial invaders.

They found that when the gut lining comes into contact with bacteria, it produces a protein that binds to sugars that are part of the bacterial outer surfaces. When they bind, the proteins quickly destroy their bacterial targets. Basically, they are killer proteins with a sweet tooth.

The proteien, HIP/PAP, in humans, belongs to a protein class called lectins, which bind to sugar molecules. These particular lectins' seek-and-destroy mission may help to create an "electric fence" that shields the intestinal surface from invading bacteria.

The findings of this study may be offering researchers new clues about the causes of inflammatory bowel disease. Most healthy people have a friendly relationship with their gut microbes, but in patients with inflammatory bowel disease this relationship turns sour and the immune system mounts an attack on the gut's microbial inhabitants that can lead to painful ulcers and bloody diarrhea. Why this happens is not cleat, but the fact that these patients have elevated HIP/PAP production suggests that they are coping with increased numbers of invading intestinal bacteria.

Another Reason to Use Hypnosis for Stress

Here is another reason to use hypnosis in handling stress. Stress hormones appear to rapidly increase the formation of brain lesions associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine, genetically modified mice injected with dexamethasone(which is a drug similar to the human body’s own stress hormones) and they showed a 60 percent increase of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain. When beta-amyloid production increases and the protein fragments aggregate, they form plaques, a major factor in the development of Alzheimer’s. The study appears in the August, 2006, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Why its Important to Use Hypnosis To Help Facilitate Sleep

We as hypnotherapists can help our clients get the sleep they so desperatively need to be healthy. Sleep is an integral part of health, and assessment of sleep habits should be a standard part of medical care, according to an editorial in the September 18 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine which is an issue devoted to studies of sleep and health. We know that we can associate sleep as an indicator of health and quality of life

There are many studies showing sleep disorders are often associated with a broad range of medical and psychiatric conditions and also have a negative impact on health, mood and quality of life. There is an increase in the evidence showing that sleep disturbances contribute to the development of or increase the severity of various medical and psychiatric disorders, and these same disorders result in poor sleep quality.

Studies appearing in this issue Archives of Internal Medicine of find that:

"1.Fewer hours of sleep may contribute to poor health in young adults, according to an international survey of more than 17,000 university students
2.Those in rural areas who sleep fewer hours appear to have a higher average body mass index
3.The immune system may play a role in narcolepsy, a disorder marked by a sudden and uncontrollable urge to sleep
4.Children with chronic illnesses, especially those on ventilators, tend to have parents with disrupted sleep
5.The immune system may be affected by a lack of sleep, altering blood chemistry in a way that potentially contributes to inflammation and a variety of diseases "

It has become apparent that voluntarily limited sleep, as well as sleep disorders such as insomnia and restless legs syndrome, can negatively affect overall health.

"Sleep is an indicator of health, and sufficient sleep quantity and good quality should be considered as an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, as much as exercise and nutrition."

Hypnosis and Cell Polarity Visualizations

From ScienceDailey.com:

Cancer And Infections: Are There Common Mechanisms?
Researchers in Italy have demonstrated how Helicobacter pylori triggers the first step of cancer development in cells of the gastric mucosa. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center are investigating a key molecule in the development of cancer, infection and inflammation.

Once again, there is evidence about cell polarity and cancer. If you remember, in the past I talked about visualizing cells knowing their top and bottom.

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is responsible for the development of stomach ulcers and also of stomach cancer. Helicobacter is equipped with special enzymes that enable it to survive the acid attacks by the stomach. Like a number of other bacterial pathogens, Helicobacter injects a protein into the epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa. While this injection is used by other pathogens to get access into the cell, Helicobacter's protein, called CagA, causes a whole range of dramatic changes in the cell biology.

Like all epithelial cells, those of the gastric mucosa have two sides with different functions: One faces outward, into the organ lumen, the other is in contact with the blood supply of the tissue. Between the two poles, the cell walls form a tight barrier via close contacts. Helicobacter dramatically disrupts this order. Following CagA injection, epithelial cells lose their polarity, the contact sites break apart. The cells form tiny foot-like extensions that make them mobile and start breaking through the basal membrane that separates them from the blood vessels. CagA causes similar changes in a cell like some cancer genes do. It is presumed in this study that CagA thus triggers the first step in the development of gastric cancer.

Assistant Professor Dr. Jan Mollenhauer, Division of Molecular Genome Analysis at the DKFZ, believes that a molecule called DMBT1 plays a key role in cancer development, infection and inflammation. The gene coding for DMBT1 first attracted attention by its absence: Mollenhauer discovered that the genetic information for DMBT 1 is missing in cells of malignant brain tumors. Meanwhile it is known that the DMBT1 gene is completely or partly lost in 84 percent of tumors that originate from epithelial cells. Numerous results also indicate that DMBT1 plays a role in infection defense. Thus, the protein binds and clots viruses and bacteria, which presumably causes them to lose their infectiousness. In addition, DMBT1 attracts immune cells to the infection site.

Mollenhauer's recent results show that DMBT1 is also involved in inflammatory processes. He reports that cells of the intestinal mucosa increase their DMBT1 production as a response to inflammatory stimuli. In cells of the inflamed intestinal mucosa of patients with Crohn's disease, NOD2, a protein that is a key sensor of the cell for bacterial infections, gives the signal for a strong increase of DMBT1 production.

The study presumes that complex diseases such as cancer, infection and inflammation, have common underlying molecular mechanisms.

Use Hypnosis Visualization to Defend Cells Against Bacteria

From ScienceDaily.com:

Biologists have unveiled a new twist in a metabolic pathway that cells use to defend themselves against toxins made by disease-causing bacteria. The discovery of this pathway, published in the September 22 issue of the journal Cell, helps our understanding of how cells mount a survival response when attacked by bacteria and parasites and also gives insight into the more general process of cell membrane biogenesis.

Bacteria and parasites often use special toxins to perforate the membranes of target cells. These pore-forming toxins are a key weapon in the attack arsenal of some common and virulent bacteria. Pore-forming toxins compose about a quarter of all known protein toxins that increase the infectivity and severity of bacterial diseases.

When the toxin perforates the host membrane, ions begin to leak out of the cell. Sensing a drop in its potassium concentration, the cell reacts by forming a multi-protein complex known as an inflammasome. Scientists know that inflammasomes act like a sort of roving security force inside the cell, detecting a variety of danger signals such as bacterial RNA or bits of bacterial flagellin. The inflammasomes join together and activate a protein, caspase-1, that in turn triggers an inflammatory response.

Caspase-1 also triggers the cell's central regulators for membrane synthesis, which launchs a bout of lipid metabolism. This previously undetected part of the response pathway has important implications for cell survival. The lipids are probably used to repair the cell membrane, stopping the potassium leak, which itself can kill the cell, and also protecting the cell from additional toxic substances lurking outside.

This result is important, because it also explains so much in terms of basic cell physiology. If a cell absorbs too much water, for example, this pathway would be triggered. The lipids formed in the metabolic pathway would enable the cell to enlarge its membrane to accommodate the extra water. Once again,we have the power to utilize true understanding of physiology when we use Guided Visualizations during our hypnosis sessions.

Hypnosis, the Mind and Pain

You can use your mind by the use of hypnosis can drive you out of your pain

The true gauge of pain lies inside a person’s own mind. Pains interpretation is very individualized. Hypnosis is but one approach to pain management.

One 2003 study suggests that 13 percent of the workforce loses productivity from headaches, back pain, arthritis and other common painful conditions.

People often search inward, to relaxation, stress reduction, and hypnosis to get some relief from living with pain.

John Astin, a researcher at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco believes that, “Our reaction to pain is a big determinant of how much suffering we end up having.”

Pain has many aspects to in, the anticipation of it, the dread of it, the stress involved, the anger towards it and it can even eventually become part of ones identity. All of theses aspects can and often due influence the amount of anguish one has because of having to live with pain.

The brain throught the use of hypnosis can help to restore a sense of control that can become lost when living with chronic pain. This alone diminishes stress as I can attest to as that is how I discovered hypnosis. I said no to back surgery and used self-hypnosis instead. Pain causes stress, and stress causes pain.

A 2000 review of 20 studies of mind-body therapy for low back pain, published in the journal Spine, found “strong evidence” that mind-body therapies could reduce the intensity of the pain. An overview published this year from experts at Ohio University also drew favorable conclusions for biofeedback, stress management and relaxation for migraine headaches.” In addition, research published in 2003 in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine reported that meditation helps with pain. We know that hypnosis combines all these methods and puts one back into control.

Let's Use Hypnosis to Help Our Cancer Clients Visualize Friend From Foe

From ScienceDaily.com is an article we can use to help with visulization ideas.

The latest generation of cancer chemotherapeutic drugs specifically targets mutant enzymes or "oncoproteins" that have run amok and now promote uncontrolled cell growth. Cancer cells, with their backs against the wall, have the tendency to fight back. A major goal of cancer research is to frustrate these acts of cellular desperation.

In a forthcoming issue of Cancer Cell, investigators at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies uncover one means cancer cells use to stay alive and in doing so suggest a strategy to overcome their tendency to fight back. The study, shows that resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug rapamycin is mediated by the survival factor NF-kB.

Rapamycin, like the pharmaceutical superstar Gleev