Cure is a strong word. It means that the treatment removed all signs of the disease forever. For example, taking an antibiotic for a bacterial infection that is completely eradicated is a cure. On the other hand taking insulin is not a cure for diabetes, it is a treatment that removes symptoms of the disease for the time being. Similarly, taking blood pressure medication to control high blood pressure isn't a cure either.
You likely have seen claims of hypnosis being a cure in the news and even on this web site. For example, in the adverts for the gut directed hypnosis section of the web site you see "Gut-Directed Hypnosis Called A "Cure!"" and in the library section you see a reference to an 2007 news report that European physicians at the Digestive Diseases Week conference claimed "Hypnotherapy Called a Cure for Pediatric Irritable Bowel Syndrome". In this instance they defined a cure as 85% of individuals had significant reduction (not 100% disappearance) in symptoms after one year. The interesting thing is that when these results were published in the peer-reviewed internationally renowed journal Gastroenterology the notion of a cure was not mentioned. It appears that the reviewers were dissatisfied with the notion that hypnosis could be called a cure for IBS.
Perhaps hypnotherapy can produce remission of a IBS symptoms in some individuals for a period of time. To the best of my knowledge there have been any studies that have looked at the life time effects of hypnosis on IBS. Also, reading postings in the hypnosis section of the board it is not unusual for individuals that have had good success to return some time later and report that the IBS symptoms are back.
The use of the word "cure" and "IBS" in the same sentence is perhaps a bit too strong of a claim. Hopefully someday there will be a cure but I am not optimistic. There is no doubt that gut directed hypnosis is an excellent tool for managing IBS symptoms for some individuals.
-------------------- STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
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Re: Comprehensive video from stanford univ. on ibs causes
