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Hypnosis 'lowers pain' in breast cancer operations
Hypnosis before breast cancer surgery can reduce the amount of anaesthetic that patients require, according to an American study.
Research conducted at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine divided 200 cancer patients into two groups. Patients in one group received 15 minutes of hypnosis an hour before their surgery, while those in the second spoke to a psychologist instead.
Researchers found that the patients who had received hypnosis required less anaesthesia during their operation, and reported less pain afterwards than those who spoke to a psychologist.
The study, published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), also found that the time and cost of the procedure was reduced for the hypnosis group, with patients spending almost 11 minutes less in surgery on average.
In an accompanying JNCI editorial, David Spiegel MD of the Stanford University School of Medicine wrote: “It has taken us a century and a half to rediscover the fact that the mind has something to do with pain and can be a powerful tool in controlling it ... It is now abundantly clear that we can retrain the brain to reduce pain.”
Category: Healthcare
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