NICE recommend hypnosis for IBS
The UK organisation called "NICE" is the the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
NICE is responsible for advising the NHS and GPs on good care practises.
In February 2008, NICE released an individual research recommendation for more research into
psychological interventions for IBS treatments.
They reference previous reviews that provided evidence that psychological interventions can help IBS.
Those interventions include hypnotherapy, CBT and psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy.
Their research proposal is particular focused on "Refractory IBS", which means that the symptoms of IBS have not
responded to pharmacological interventions after twelve months or more.
The standard initial response from the NHS for IBS treatment will often be various medications, including "stoppers" for diarrhea,
"starters" for constipation, anti-pain medications and antidepressants.
Antidepressants can include flouxetine (Prozac), citalopram (Cipramil), sertaline (Lustral), mirtazapine (Zispin) and many more.
There is concern that medication may help with the immediate symptoms, but the benefits might stop as soon as the person stops taking the medication.
Even though an estimated 13 million people in the UK (1 in 5) suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), 16 years later after
NICE made the recommendation for more research,
very little research has been completed for psychological IBS treatments.
However, pharmaceutical companies are still funding large amounts of research for medicating the symptoms of IBS
and new drugs are being approved.
If taking medication, people suffering from IBS may need to continue taking the medication long term, and may also have to
deal with the side effects.
Existing research into hypnotherapy
suggests that the results provide long term benefits in most people with no reported side effects.
