Hypnotherapy as a resource for asthma patients - asthma international comparisons

Hypnotherapy as a resource for asthma patients

Anyone who suffers from asthma, or has a relative or friend with the condition, knows how serious it can be – and how widespread.

Please Note

This webpage is included as a brief explanation of how hypnotherapy can be of help for people with asthma as part of their medically supervised treatment.

It is not in any way intended as an emergency resource if you, your child, a relative or friend, is currently experiencing an asthma attack.

If you are at present dealing with an attack, you are advised to contact your physician, asthma clinic or local accident & emergency department

The condition affects the respiratory system when the muscles around the airway walls tighten and narrow with the lining of the small airways to the lungs - the bronchioles - becoming inflamed and swollen .

This results in difficulty breathing and symptoms include coughing, wheezing, tight feelings in the chest and breathlessness.

It is important that anyone who develops a respiratory problems consult their GP for a proper diagnosis.

If asthma is confirmed one of the five commonly used groups of drugs administered by an inhaler will probably be prescribed, while in severe cases tablets containing steroids may also be taken by mouth.

For more than forty years various research studies (click HERE for list of some of the published papers) have indicated that hypnotherapy can be an effective means of helping asthmatic patients control, reduce and in some cases, eliminate their condition.

To many this may seem surprising as asthma is often - but not always - a response to triggers such as dust, animals, pollen, mites, weather conditions, fumes or certain foods.

Sometimes the condition is categorised into "extrinsic" and "intrinsic" asthmas.

Extrinsic asthma is when the immune system responses to external allergens of one sort or another.

Intrinsic asthma is when the trigger is anything except an allergy - including factors such as stress, arguments, social occasions even laughter.

The trigger can be psychosomatic which might best be defined as a physical condition influenced by psychological or emotional factors

The United Kingdom has the world's higest incidence of asthma. More than 5 million patients receive treatment with about one in five households having someone diagnosed as asthmatic.

New Zealand has the second highest prevalence with one-in-six adults and one-in-four children experiencing symptoms and the disease is the most common cause of admission to hospital for children.

In the United States an estimated 23.2 million Americans suffer from asthma, almost 9 million of whom are under the age of 18 - that's 12 percent of children. Asthma is the leading chronic illness for American children and the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic illness.

More than 2.2 million Canadians have been diagnosed with asthma - 12.2 per cent of children and 6.3 per cent of adults, with about 500 deaths a year.

According to a report published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia has among the highest incidence of asthma in the world. Between 14 per cent and 16 per cent of children and between 10 per cent and 12 per cent of adults have the condition.

Lungs with asthma

Lungs without asthma

Squeezing of muscles around airways

The lining of the airways
inflames

Narrowing of the space
where air can pass through

Extra mucus is produced, blocking airway

Relaxed muscles around airways

The lining of the airways is not inflamed

Airways are open for air to pass through

Which brings us to a slightly contentious question, whether asthma can become a "conditioned response."† Many patients know, from many previous occasions, that in certain conditions they are likely to experience an asthmatic episode, and so have built up an expectation of an attack.

People with asthma becomes attuned to the warning signals, frequently it is at an unconscious level that they first "spot the signs", and without consciously knowing it, respond by changing their breathing pattern. They begin to breath more rapidly and more shallowly.† In other words, they respond by starting to hyperventilate.

The model of therapy which the Internet Therapy Partnership has developed for asthma patients - based largely on a four and a half year study conducted at a hospial in the South of England - puts the patient back in control.

It does this in a number of ways, not least by altering the patients' expectation and developing a deeply ingrained understanding that they have the means to remain calm and bring their breathing back into control.

The Internet Therapy Partnership can only provide therapy for asthma patients if their condition is being treated or monitored by their own GP or an asthma clinic. It is also our practise to write to the doctors concerned informing them that hypnotherapy is being provided to their patients and keeping them informed of the progress made.

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© Internet Therapy Partnership 2007