When some patients were hypnotised and told they were in pain, they exhibited similar brain activity as people who actually were in pain, according to study leaders at University College London (UCL) and the University of Pittsburgh.

Advertisement

This may help explain why doctors can't find a physical or psychological reason for why some people experience chronic pain, reported BBC News Online. The scientists said the results prove that doctors shouldn't dismiss patients who are experiencing pain that cannot be explained, and that such cases aren't necessarily psychological.

"If this pain has an origin in the brain, it suggests that you can use other therapies, such as hypnosis, to alleviate the pain," study leader Dr David Oakley, director of the hypnosis unit at UCL, told the BBC. Results of the research are published in the journal NeuroImage. – (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
Pain Centre
New target for pain relief found

 

Print this article on

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent