Hypnosis for Cancer

The medical profession is increasingly coming to realise that psychological factors can play an important role in the development, longevity and remission of tumours, and also influence the way a patient responds to treatment (whether it be radiotherapy or chemotherapy) and copes with any pain. Hypnotherapy can help cancer patients improve their quality of life through pain management and anxiety reduction and, by means of techniques such as hypno-desensitisation, can also help to combat the nausea and diarrhoea that often accompany treatments such as chemotherapy. A technique known as psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), which harnesses the healing power of the unconscious mind, can also help to boost the immune system to aid the body in fighting invading cancer cells.

THE EVIDENCE?
In March 2001, The Independent reported on a 13-year study whose results were made public at the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Glasgow. The study found that hypnotherapy and relaxation exercises could prolong the lives of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease who are also receiving chemotherapy. Those who received the therapies, which were designed to combat stress and help with the side-effects of chemotherapy (nausea, vomiting, anxiety), survived, on average, 32 months longer than patients who had conventional treatments alone.

The Independent also reported that in another study of 80 newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients in Hull who used guided imagery to visualise their cancer cells being eradicated or incinerated, the number of killer cells in their bloodstream increased. They also had a more optimistic outlook on life.

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