Treating the Mind Eases Irritable Bowel

Mar. 23 -- FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Hypnotherapy, antidepressants and other mind-centered treatments could help people battling severe irritable bowel syndrome, a British survey of the literature finds.

Such treatments are effective because "people who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) don't necessarily have a clinical disorder in terms of psychology but have certain behavior patterns that make them vulnerable to symptoms," explained Bu'Hussain Hayee, a clinical research fellow at University College Hospital in London.

He and Dr. Ian Forgacs, a consulting gastroenterologist at Kings College Hospital, compiled the survey, published in the May 26 British Medical Journal, as a working guide for physicians.

"In part, the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are similar to those you find in depression, so things that work for depression work for it," Hayee said. Patients with IBS "are not depressed," he said, "but the treatments work."

Symptoms of the condition can include cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. The condition is surprisingly common. The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease estimates that as many as 1 in 5 adult Americans will suffer one or more symptoms of IBS at some time in their lives. Most people can control symptoms with diet, medications and stress management.

One common stress-management technique successfully used in IBS is cognitive behavioral therapy, Hayee said. That's a general term for a set of psychotherapies based on the belief that changing the way a person thinks about a condition can bring about improvement, even if the condition does not change.

"It has proven to be effective," Hayee said. "It focuses on the patient's perception of symptoms rather than on the symptoms themselves." Studies have shown that cognitive behavior therapy is as effective in IBS as antidepressant medication, and that its effects last longer, he said.

Hypnotherapy has also proven effective in small trials, although a recent review found insufficient evidence to recommend its widespread use, Hayee said.