Hypnosis helps cut hot flashes in breast cancer survivors

Washington, September 26: Weekly sessions of Hypnotic Relaxation Therapy can decrease the frequency and severity of hot flashes, night sweat and other menopausal symptoms commonly accompanying a breast cancerdefine treatment, findings of a new study suggest.

As breast cancerdefine survivors are more prone to enter menopause early, hot flashes, night sweats and other conditions can pose a significant problem.

Moreover, as such patients cannot be administered Hormone Replacement Therapy over concerns of cancer re-growth, antidepressants remain the only course of action. However, out of concern over side-effects women opt not to take such drugs.

"This is a very encouraging study of hypnosis as a treatment for hot flashes in breast cancer survivors," noted Dr. Ted Gansler, Director of Medical Content at the American Cancer Society.

"This is an important topic because of the high prevalence of these symptoms in breast cancer survivors, and because few other treatment options are both safe and effective for this population," he added.

To explore the potential effects of hypnosis on controlling hot flashes and other symptoms among women treated for breast cancer, the researchers from the Baylor University, University of Texas, and Johns Hopkins University enrolled 51 breast cancer survivors for a randomly controlled trail.

While 26 women were assigned to receive five weekly sessions of Hypnotic Relaxation Therapy, the other group received no treatment.

During each session of hypnosis women received tips for relaxation and coolness. Moreover, they were taught the art of disassociating themselves from their sufferings.

At the completion of the study researchers found that those women who underwent Hypnotic Relaxation Therapy had an average 68 per cent decrease in the frequency and severity of hot flashes. They also reported a significant improvement in the anxiety, depressiondefine, interference of hot flashes with daily activities and other sleep problems, as compared to those who did not receive any treatment.

"There is a real need to study emerging mind-body interactions to treat these ailments because many times medications are not an option," said study’s lead researcher, Dr Gary Elkins, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University.

The findings of the research appear in the online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.