The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Status of hypnosis/guided imagery for fibromyalgia

    Researchers in Germany performed a systematic review of the evidence.

    First, the details.

    • 6 studies with 239 patients who participated in 7 to 12 hypnosis/guided imagery sessions were analyzed.
    • 3 studies performed follow-up.

    And, the results.

    • Hypnosis/guided imagery significantly reduced pain vs controls at final treatment.
    • Hypnosis/guided imagery did not reduce limitations of health-related quality of life at the final treatment vs controls.
    • Limited data prevented an assessment of changes in fatigue, sleep, and depressed mood at final treatment and at follow-up.
    • Similarly, changes in pain and health-related quality of life at follow-up were not calculated because of limited data.
    • The significant effect on pain at final treatment was associated with low methodological and low treatment quality.

    The bottom line?

    The authors concluded that there’s insufficient evidence to recommend hypnosis/guided imagery as a treatment for fibromyalgia.

    More and better research, which focuses on the symptoms of the disease are needed.

    9/22/11 21:23 JR

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