Reduction Of Pain And Distress In Breast Cancer

An interesting article on Google News:

This study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York showed that a 15-minute hypnosis session reduced side effects including pain, nausea and emotional distress in patients undergoing breast cancer operations.

"If this were a drug, it would be very successful," said lead study author Guy Montgomery, director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program at Mount. Sinai School of Medicine.

After their surgeries, the women who had hypnosis experienced less pain, nausea, fatigue, discomfort and emotional upset than their counterparts — and these differences were substantial, the study's authors reported. Not only did hypnosis reduce the side effects from surgery, but it also did this while reducing the amount of anesthesia used during the surgery. Additionally, the researchers showed that hypnosis decreased the amount of time spent in the operating room by almost 11 minutes, leading to an overall cost savings of about $770 per patient.

In addition to being effective, hypnosis may also prove to be a versatile tool. The benefits of hypnosis have been shown in previous research to extend to other procedures as well, including gynecological surgery and coronary artery bypass.

"This could become part of standard care," he said. However, he added, "it's not a panacea for everything, but rather a tool in the toolbox that we can use to address specific problems."