 |
|
Hypnosis reduces pain and costs in breast cancer surgery
August 29, 2007The use of hypnosis prior to breast cancer surgery reduced the amount of anesthesia administered during the operation, the level of pain reported afterwards, and the time and cost of the procedure, according to a study published online August 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Breast cancer surgery patients often suffer side effects such as pain, nausea, and fatigue during and after their operation. These complications can lengthen their hospital stay, lead to hospital readmission, or require additional medications-all of which increase medical costs. Several previous studies have suggested that hypnosis may reduce pain, recovery time, and the need for medications after surgery.
Guy Montgomery, Ph.D., of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and colleagues conducted a clinical trial to examine the effects of hypnosis when it is given within one hour before surgery. Two hundred women were randomly assigned to either 15 minutes of hypnosis by a psychologist or a control session in which they spoke with a psychologist. The researchers then compared the use of pain medications and sedatives during surgery, as well as the levels of pain and other side effects reported afterwards.
The hypnosis session began with suggestions for relaxation and pleasant visual imagery. The patients were also given suggestions on how to reduce pain, nausea, and fatigue, and instructions on how to use hypnosis on their own.
Patients in the hypnosis group required less anesthesia than patients in the control group. They also reported less pain, nausea, fatigue, discomfort, and emotional upset after surgery. They spent less time in surgery (almost 11 minutes less), and their surgical costs were reduced by about $773 per patient, mainly due to the time savings.
"Together, the combination of potential improvements in symptom burden for the hundreds of thousands of women facing breast cancer surgery each year and the economic benefit for institutions argues persuasively for the more widespread application of brief presurgical hypnosis," the authors write.
In an accompanying editorial, David Spiegel, M.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., describes the history of hypnosis in medicine and the evidence for why hypnosis could reduce pain.
"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: 'float rather than fight,'" Spiegel writes.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
The hypnosis session began with suggestions for relaxation and pleasant visual imagery. The patients were also given suggestions on how to reduce pain, nausea, and fatigue, and instructions on how to use hypnosis on their own.
Patients in the hypnosis group required less anesthesia than patients in the control group. They also reported less pain, nausea, fatigue, discomfort, and emotional upset after surgery. They spent less time in surgery (almost 11 minutes less), and their surgical costs were reduced by about $773 per patient, mainly due to the time savings.
"Together, the combination of potential improvements in symptom burden for the hundreds of thousands of women facing breast cancer surgery each year and the economic benefit for institutions argues persuasively for the more widespread application of brief presurgical hypnosis," the authors write.
In an accompanying editorial, David Spiegel, M.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., describes the history of hypnosis in medicine and the evidence for why hypnosis could reduce pain.
"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: 'float rather than fight,'" Spiegel writes.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Breast Cancer Current Events and Breast Cancer News RSSHormone therapy associated with reduced colorectal cancer risk
The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Team finds breast cancer gene linked to disease spread
A team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has identified a long-sought gene that is fatefully switched on in 30 to 40 percent of all breast cancer patients, spreading the disease, resisting traditional chemotherapies and eventually leading to death.
Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to survive
A single tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken years later, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation.
How to enhance non-thermal effects of ultrasound
In recent years HIFU has been widely used for the treatment of solid tumors, such as liver tumor, bone tumor, and breast cancer. The mechanism for therapeutic actions of HIFU includes thermal effects and non-thermal effects with the latter dominated by cavitational effects.
Obesity Increases Lymphedema Risk for Breast Cancer Survivors
Throughout the world, 10 million breast cancer survivors have a lifetime risk for developing lymphedema, a chronic condition that involves swelling of the limbs and impacts physical and psychosocial health.
Researchers compile 'molecular manual' for 100s of inherited diseases
An international research team has compiled the first catalogue of tissue-specific pathologies underlying hundreds of inherited diseases.
Modified gene targets cancer cells a thousand times more often than healthy cells
Researchers at the University of Rochester have designed a gene that produces a thousand times more protein in cancer cells than in healthy cells.
Meta-analyses of global trials finds in favor of aromatase inhibitors
Two separate meta-analyses of clinical trials from around the world that tested tamoxifen against aromatase inhibitor drugs in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer have each reached the same conclusion: aromatase inhibitors are more effective in preventing breast cancer from coming back.
Interactive gene 'networks' may predict if leukemia is aggressive or slow-growing
Rather than testing for individual marker genes or proteins, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have evidence that groups, or networks, of interactive genes may be more reliable in determining the likelihood that a form of leukemia is fast-moving or slow-growing.
Confusing risk information may lead to poor cancer treatment choices
A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a tool commonly used by doctors to estimate the risk of a woman's breast cancer returning after surgery is not very effective at explaining risk to patients.
More Breast Cancer Current Events and Breast Cancer News Articles
 | Breast Cancer Survival Manual, Fourth Edition: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Woman With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer by John Link A completely updated edition of the definitive guide for patients with breast cancer The new fourth edition of The Breast Cancer Survival Manual provides essential updates on treatment and care, enhancing the basic information that has made this the most trusted guide for women diagnosed with breast cancer for the past decade. This edition includes the most current advice on • getting a second... |
 | Breast Cancer Husband: How to Help Your Wife (and Yourself) during Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond by Marc Silver A unique guide, like none other on the market-packed with medical information, practical tips, psychological insight, and coping strategies-to help men help the women they love through this trying time. When Marc Silver became a breast cancer husband three years ago, he learned firsthand how frightened and helpless the breast cancer husband feels. He searched in vain for a book that would give... |
 | The Breast Cancer Survivor's Fitness Plan (Harvard Medical School Guides) by Carolyn M. Kaelin, Francesca Coltrera, Josie Gardiner, Joy Prouty The only breast cancer recovery program designed by a Harvard doctor and survivor and approved by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). . Feel healthy again. Regain control of your life. . . Exciting new research reveals that regular exercise can reduce the chance of breast cancer recurrence and extend your life. Exercise can also help you recover energy, strength, and flexibility... |
 | Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul: Stories to Inspire, Support and Heal (Chicken Soup for the Soul) by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Mary Olsen Kelly Your support group in a book, filled with boundless strength and profound hope - until the fight is won. Along with the shock, fear and loss many women face upon a breast cancer diagnosis comes unexpected strength, wisdom, and strong networks of sharing, support and healing. In Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul, survivors and their family members talk openly about how difficult... |
 | What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Breast Cancer: How Hormone Balance Can Help Save Your Life (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About...) by John R. Lee, David Zava, Virginia Hopkins An informative and absorbing read for both medical practitioners and their patients, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer takes aim at "the breast cancer industry" with a barrage of thought-provoking ammunition. The book is equal parts criticism and suggestion. Current health treatments, including HRT, receive serious condemnation, and authors John Lee and David Zava carefully... |
 | Breast Cancer: Real Questions, Real Answers by David Chan A breast cancer diagnosis is a scary experience, and women are often left feeling confused about their options, fearful of their future, and full of questions. Uniquely structured as a Q&A between patient and doctor, Breast Cancer: Real Questions, Real Answers provides you with an easily navigated, completely current resource for all of your questions. In compassionate and straightforward... |
 | After Breast Cancer: A Common-Sense Guide to Life After Treatment by Hester Hill Licsw Schnipper As women quickly discover, their life when treatment ends is very different from what it was before their diagnosis. Often exhausted, anxious, and emotionally volatile, they are beset by physical discomforts, fearful of intimacy, afraid for their children, worried about recurrence. Anticipating a return to “normalcy,” they discover that the old version of normal no longer applies.There could... |
 | Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment: Medical Specialists and Cancer Survivors Tell You What You Need to Know (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book) A diagnosis of breast cancer can be overwhelming. The disease is frightening and the medical landscape confusing. In the wake of fear and confusion comes the need to make decisions about treatment. This book provides women with medically reliable and up-to-date information to help them with these decisions.Within these pages is a team of private consultants -- including surgeons, medical... |
 | Just Get Me Through This!: The Practical Guide to Breast Cancer by Deborah A. Cohen, M.D., Robert M. Gelfand |
 | The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet: The Powerful Foods, Supplements, and Drugs That Can Save Your Life by Dr. Bob Arnot "From one of the most visible and highly respected figures in medical journalism comes a book that can literally save lives. During the past several years, doctors at leading institutions across the nation have been investigating the relationship between breast cancer and diet. The recent flood of medical studies confirm that what a woman eats can have a dramatic impact on whether or not... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |