The role of parents in the use of hypnosis with their children raises many questions worthy of consideration. A survey of the literature reveals that this important topic has not been given the attention or depth it deserves. The author looks at (a) how, when, and whether to incorporate parents in the treatment of their children; (b) how to address attachment and trance between parent and child; (c) engaging parents in their own hypnotic abilities beginning as early as the birthing experience; and (d) improving parenting skills such as teaching parents to pay attention to their use of language with their children in order to shift patterns of communication from unproductive to useful. In addition, the author explores the ways to invite, teach, support and interact with the family system of parent and child in our hypnotic work.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2011 Jul;54(1):70-81. Linden JH. juliehlinden@comcast.net

Psychologist David Gruder trains helping professionals, leaders and the public worldwide. David is dually licensed in California as a psychologist and marriage and family therapist. He was Founding President of ACEP and is the Executive Director of Willingness Works® He trains and mentors helping professionals, leaders, and the public in North America, Europe, and Asia. An ACEP Certification Program developer, and an ACEP-Approved Certification Trainer and Consultant, he teaches his Energy Psychology Essential's curriculum worldwide. His Energy Psychology Desktop Companion eBook and Energy Psychology anywhere self-help audio are highly acclaimed and his book, Sensible Self-Help, won two book awards. His new book on the global integrity crisis is slated for release in May.

For more information, go to www.willingness.com.

Stimulation of acupuncture point Pc6, located above the median nerve, has been shown to be effective in treating nausea and vomiting. It has also frequently been reported to cause a heart rate reduction. The mechanism behind this autonomic reaction has not been clarified, so far. We combined brainstem-sensitive functional magnetic resonance imaging with heart rate recording and time-resolved rating of the needling sensation to measure neuronal correlates of sensations and autonomic reactions during acupuncture. On the cortical level, needling sensation activated typical pain-related areas, of which the ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex were further involved in mediating the heart rate response. In the brainstem, needling sensation activated nuclei of the descending pain control system, in which a network of hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray, rostral ventromedial medulla, and ventrolateral medulla was identified as the source of the heart rate changes. Our findings indicate that acupuncture may be a special pain stimulus, whose autonomic concomitants could explain its non-analgesic effects and in some cases even have a therapeutic potential.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuroimage. 2011 Dec 28;60(1):653-660. Beissner F, Deichmann R, Henke C, Bär KJ. Pain & Autonomics - Integrative Research (PAIR), University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena, Germany; Brain Imaging Center, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Neurology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.

BACKGROUND: This study explores nursing personnel's experiences and perceptions of receiving tactile massage and hypnosis during a personnel health promotion project. Nursing in a short term emergency ward environment can be emotionally and physically exhausting due to the stressful work environment and the high dependency patient care. A health promotion project integrating tactile massage and hypnosis with conventional physical activities was therefore introduced for nursing personnel working in this setting at a large university hospital in Sweden. METHODS: Four semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted withvolunteer nursing personnel participants after the health promotion project had been completed. There were 16 participants in the focus groups and there were 57 in the health promotion intervention. The discussions were transcribed verbatim and analysed with qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The findings indicated that tactile massage and hypnosis may contribute to reduced levels of stress and pain and increase work ability for some nursing personnel. The sense of well-being obtained in relation to health promotion intervention with tactile massage and hypnosis seemed to have positive implications for both work and leisure. Self-awareness, contentment and self-control may be contributing factors related to engaging in tactile massage and hypnosis that might help nursing personnel understand their patients and colleagues and helped them deal with difficult situations that occurred during their working hours. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that the integration of tactile massage and hypnosis in personnel health promotion may be valuable stress management options in addition to conventional physical activities.

BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011 Oct 1;11:83. Airosa F, Andersson SK, Falkenberg T, Forsberg C, Nordby-Hörnell E, Ohlén G, Sundberg T. Unit for Studies of Integrative Health care-Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Huddinge, Sweden. fanny.airosa@ki.se

Dr. Eriksen is licensed in Alabama and Georgia and has been in private practice since 1991. He is the vice president of the Society of Chiropractic Orthospinology, which teaches and certifies doctors in the Grostic Procedure of precision spinal care. Dr. Eriksen is on the postgraduate faculty of Life University and is on the editorial review board for the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research and Chiropractic Research Journal. He is also on the faculty of Northwestern Health Sciences University where he teaches the Orthospinology procedure on a part-time basis. Dr. Eriksen has been appointed to the College of the Upper Cervical Spine, a five-member board responsible for developing a curriculum and administering tests for a 300-hour Diplomate of the Upper Cervical Spine postgraduate program. In 1997, Dr. Eriksen was awarded "Chiropractor of the Year" by the Alabama Chiropractic Council (ACC). The Society of Chiropractic Orthospinology awarded him this same prestigious distinction in 2004. In 2006, the World Chiropractic Alliance designated him "Researcher of the Year." He is a renowned lecturer and has taught around the world on various topics. He has published several research studies, and in 2004, he authored the landmark text, Upper Cervical Subluxation Complex: A Review of the Chiropractic and Medical Literature. The prestigious Lippincott Williams & Wilkins also published his latest textbook, Orthospinology Procedures: An Evidence-Based to Spinal Care, in 2007.

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The purpose of our study was to measure the relationship between performance on various attentional tasks and hypnotic susceptibility. Healthy volunteers (N=116) participated in a study, where they had to perform several tasks measuring various attention components in a waking state: sustained attention, selective or focused attention, divided attention and executive attention in task switching. Hypnotic susceptibility was measured in a separate setting by the Waterloo-Stanford Groups Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C (WSGC). We found no significant correlation between any of the attentional measures and hypnotic susceptibility. Highly hypnotizables did not prove to be superior to or worse than the other individuals in any of the tests. These results do not support the neuropsychophysiological model of hypnosis, as they show no consistent relationship between hypnotic susceptibility and waking attentional performance.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conscious Cogn. 2011 Dec;20(4):1872-81. Epub 2011 Oct 2. Varga K, Németh Z, Szekely A. Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca 46. Pf. 755, Budapest H-1384, Hungary. varga.katalin@ppk.elte.hu

Glenn Soberman is a licensed clinical psychologist and ordained interfaith minister. He has a private practice in New Paltz and Rhinebeck, New York. A published author, his most recent book entitled: Letting Go: A Self-Help Manual for Emotional Well-Being (Blue Dolphin Publishing). Dr. Soberman specializes in using Revolutionary Energy Psychology techniques to heal the mind, body and soul as well as provide gentle yet rapid relief form anxiety, depression, phobias and unresolved traumas. He has over 20 years of clinical experience and has been an adjunct faculty member in the graduate psychology department for Marist College. He has provided training in Seemorg Matris Work and other energy psychology techniques at numerous conferences and workshiops throughout North and Central America. According to Dr. Clinton, the developer of Seemorg Matrix Work, "Dr. Soberman's teaching is and invigorating synthesis of heart and mind, compassion and intelligence.

Full title: Prediction and prenosological diagnostics of heart diseases based on energy characteristics of acupuncture points and fuzzy logic.

Many theories of reflexology use ancient concepts which do not coincide with the modern medical terminology of anatomy, physiology and biophysics. This substantially reduces the trust of physicians in reflexology methods. During this research, several mathematical models for the interaction of the internal and biological active points of meridian structures have been proposed. The analysis of these models allows the specification of a list of heart diseases for which reflex diagnostics and reflex therapy methods are most effective and also allows increasing the effectiveness of these procedures. It is shown that good results for the prediction and early diagnosis of diseases from the reaction energy of biologically active points (acupuncture points) are obtained using fuzzy logic decision making.

Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2012 Jan 10. Al-Kasasbeh R, Korenevskiy N, Ionescou F, Alshamasin M, Kuzmin A. a Faculty of Engineering Technology , Al-Balqa Applied University , Amman, Jordan.

Full title: Prediction and prenosological diagnostics of heart diseases based on energy characteristics of acupuncture points and fuzzy logic.

Many theories of reflexology use ancient concepts which do not coincide with the modern medical terminology of anatomy, physiology and biophysics. This substantially reduces the trust of physicians in reflexology methods. During this research, several mathematical models for the interaction of the internal and biological active points of meridian structures have been proposed. The analysis of these models allows the specification of a list of heart diseases for which reflex diagnostics and reflex therapy methods are most effective and also allows increasing the effectiveness of these procedures. It is shown that good results for the prediction and early diagnosis of diseases from the reaction energy of biologically active points (acupuncture points) are obtained using fuzzy logic decision making.

Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2012 Jan 10. Al-Kasasbeh R, Korenevskiy N, Ionescou F, Alshamasin M, Kuzmin A. a Faculty of Engineering Technology , Al-Balqa Applied University , Amman, Jordan.

We describe prior use and willingness to try complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among 401 veterans experiencing chronic noncancer pain and explore differences between CAM users and nonusers. Participants in a randomized controlled trial of a collaborative intervention for chronic pain from five Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care clinics self-reported prior use and willingness to try chiropractic care, massage therapy, herbal medicines, and acupuncture. Prior CAM users were compared with nonusers on demographic characteristics, pain-related clinical characteristics, disease burden, and treatment satisfaction. A majority of veterans ( n = 327, 82%) reported prior use of at least one CAM modality, and nearly all (n = 399, 99%) were willing to try CAM treatment for pain. Chiropractic care was the least preferred option, whereas massage therapy was the most preferred (75% and 96%, respectively). CAM users were less likely to have service-connection disabilities (54% vs 68%; chi square = 4.64, p = 0.03) and reported having spent a larger percentage of their lives in pain (26% vs 20%; Z = 1.40, p = 0.04) than nonusers. We detected few differences between veterans who had tried CAM and those who had not, suggesting that CAM may have broad appeal among veterans with chronic pain. Implications for VA policy and practice and for clinicians treating veterans with chronic pain are discussed.

J Rehabil Res Dev. 2011;48(9):1119-28. Denneson LM, Corson K, Dobscha SK. Portland VA Medical Center, PO Box 1034 (P3DEP_PC), Portland, OR 97207. lauren.denneson@va.gov.

CONTEXT: Complementary medicine like hypnotherapy is often used for pain and palliative care. Health professionals vary in views about hypnotherapy, its utility, value, and attitudes. AIMS: To understand the opinions of health professionals on hypnotherapy. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A semi-qualitative method to survey opinions of the health professionals from various disciplines attending a programme on hypnotherapy was conducted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The survey form consisted of 32 statements about hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Participants were asked to indicate whether they agreed, disagreed, or were not sure about each statement. A qualitative feedback form was used to obtain further views about hypnotherapy. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Percentage, frequency distribution. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 21 participants from various disciplines. Two-thirds of the participants gave correct responses to statements on dangerousness of hypnosis (90%), weak mind and hypnosis (86%), and hypnosis as therapy (81%). The participants gave incorrect responses about losing control in hypnosis (57%), hypnosis being in sleep (62%), and becoming dependent on hypnotist (62%). Participants were not sure if one could not hear the hypnotist one is not hypnotized (43%) about the responses on gender and hypnosis (38%), hypnosis leading to revealing secrets (23%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite patients using complementary medicine services, often health professionals are unaware of the issues associated with these services. These myths may interfere in using hypnotherapy as therapeutic tool in palliative care. It is important for health professionals to have an appropriate and evidence-based understanding about the complementary therapies including hypnotherapy.

Indian J Palliat Care. 2011 May;17(2):146-9. Desai G, Chaturvedi SK, Ramachandra S. Department of Psychiatry, Nimhans, Bengaluru, India.

Kam Thye Chow, a native of Malaysia, was raised in the tradition of Asian arts and healing customs. He has been practicing tai chi and Chinese massage since the age of 13, and has studied kung fu and qigong for more than 20 years. He has taught martial arts and Thai yoga massage in North America, Asia, and Europe, and is the author of two books, Tai Chi and Thai Yoga Massage. He has also produced a video, Thai Yoga Massage.

In 1997, Chow founded the Lotus Palm School in Montreal, Canada, the first school in Canada to promote and teach the art of Thai yoga massage. His concise and compassionate approach to Thai yoga massage is specifically designed to provide a safe method of integrating the Eastern approach to body, mind, and spirit with the Western understanding of the physical body.

BACKGROUND: Hot flashes are a highly prevalent problem associated with menopause and breast cancer treatments. The recent findings from the Women's HealthInitiative have important implications for the significance of a non-hormonal, mind-body intervention for hot flashes in breast cancer survivors. Women who take hormone therapy long-term may have a 1.2 to 2.0 fold increased risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, it is now known that hormone therapy with estrogen and progestin is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Currently there are limited options to hormone replacement therapy as non-hormonal pharmacological agents are associated with only modest activity and many adverse side effects. Because of this there is a need for more alternative, non-hormonal therapies. Hypnosis is a mind-body intervention that has been shown to reduce self-reported hot flashes by up to 68% among breast cancer survivors, however, the use of hypnosis for hot flashes among post-menopausal women has not been adequately explored and the efficacy of hypnosis in reducing physiologically measured hot flashes has not yet been determined. METHODS/DESIGN: A sample of 180 post-menopausal women will be randomly assigned to either a 5-session Hypnosis Intervention or 5-session structured-attention control with 12 week follow-up. The present study will compare hypnosis to a structured-attention control in reducing hot flashes (perceived and physiologically monitored) in post-menopausal women in a randomized clinical trial. Outcomes will be hot flashes (self-report daily diaries; physiological monitoring; Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); anxiety visual analog scale (VAS rating); depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), sexual functioning (Sexual Activity Questionnaire), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and cortisol. DISCUSSION: This study will be the first full scale test of hypnosis for hot flashes; one of the first studies to examine both perceived impact and physiologically measured impact of a mind-body intervention for hot flashes using state-of-the-art 24 hour ambulatory physiological monitoring; the first study to examine the effect of hypnosis for hot flashes on cortisol; and the first investigation of the role of cognitive expectancies in treatment of hot flashes in comparison to a Structured-Attention Control. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This clinical trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01293695.

BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011 Oct 11;11:92. Elkins GR, Fisher WI, Johnson AK. Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, One Bear Place # 97334, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA. Gary_Elkins@baylor.edu

Judith A. Swack, has a PhD in Biochemistry and postdoctoral training in human immunology. She is a Master Practitioner of NLP, a certified Hypnotherapist, and trained in TFT/DX. Dr. Swack has developed Healing from the Body Level UpSM (HBLUSM) methodology, a holistic psychotherapy system integrating biomedical science, psychology, applied kinesiology, NLP, energy psychology techniques, and original research.

For more information, visit http://www.jaswack.com/.

Full title: An Overview of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: Supplement to Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

BACKGROUND: VA is committed to expanding the breadth of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related services available to Veterans. Since depressive and anxiety disorders share common features with PTSD, this report was commissioned to examine the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders as a means to detect treatments that might be applicable to PTSD. METHODS: The key questions (KQs) were adapted from the parent report, Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. We searched MEDLINE® (via PubMed®) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for recent English-language systematic reviews (SRs) that examined the literature on mind-body medicine, manipulative and body-based practices, and movement or energy therapies, excluding nutritionals, herbal remedies and other supplements. To be included, SRs had to be published within the past five years and be evaluated as a "fair" or "good" quality. Titles, abstracts, and articles were reviewed in duplicate, and relevant data were abstracted by authors trained in the critical analysis of literature. KEY FINDINGS: We identified five relevant SRs on mind-body CAM therapies, but none on manipulative and body-based, movement-based, or energy therapies. Most primary studies were small trials that did not provide descriptions of CAM strategies adequate to permit replication. Dose, duration, and frequency of interventions sometimes varied widely. Key findings were: For anxiety disorders, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of meditation (n = 2 studies). Studies reported high rates of dropout, suggesting that adherence to meditation may be problematic in a clinical setting; therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the efficacy of meditation for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Relaxation and/or breathing retraining show promise as a CAM therapy for panic disorders. Evidence, however, is limited. Acupuncture shows some promise as a CAM therapy for depression, but results were mixed. For major depressive disorder (MDD), acupuncture showed greater effects than sham control on depressive symptoms but did not improve response or remission rates. It did not differ significantly from short-term use of antidepressants. However, for patients with post-stroke depression, acupuncture was more effective than short-term use of antidepressants. Mindfulness-based stress reduction has shown positive effects on anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, studies are poor to fair quality. No included SRs reported effects on health-related quality of life. Reported results provided limited data on adverse effects or retention rates. The limitations of the current evidence preclude strong conclusions about specific CAM interventions for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. However, limited evidence supports the use of meditation, relaxation training and/or breathing retraining, and mindfulness-based stress reduction for anxiety, as well as acupuncture for depression. This evidence should be considered together with the direct data on CAM treatments for PTSD when planning further treatment studies.

Williams JW , Gierisch JM, McDuffie J, Strauss JL, Nagi A. Washington (DC): Department of Veterans Affairs; 2011 Aug. VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program Reports.

In five experiments, we examined 3- to 6-year-olds' understanding that they could gain knowledge indirectly from someone who had seen something they had not. Consistent with previous research, children judged that an informant, who had seen inside a box, knew its contents. Similarly, when an informant marked a picture to indicate her suggestion as to the content of the box, 3- to 4-year-olds trusted this more frequently when the informant had seen inside the box than when she had not. Going beyond previous research, 3- to 4-year-olds were also sensitive to informants' relevant experience when they had to look over a barrier to see the marked picture, or ask for the barrier to be raised. Yet when children had to elicit the informant's suggestion, rather than just consult a suggestion already present, even 4- to 5-year-olds were no more likely to do so when the informant had seen the box's content than when she had not, and no more likely to trust the well-informed suggestion than the uninformed one. We conclude that young children who can ask questions may not yet fully understand the process by which they can gain accurate information from someone who has the experience they lack.

©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Br J Dev Psychol. 2011 Nov;29(Pt 4):961-80. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02036.x. Robinson EJ, Butterfill SA, Nurmsoo E. Warwick University, Coventry, UK. e.j.robinson@warwick.ac.uk

Dr. Neil J. Davies has been a chiropractic educator and clinician for over 21 years. In 1986, after many years teaching chiropractic philosophy and techniques at RMIT Melbourne, he was responsible for assembling a team of pediatricians and other educators to create the first ever University level degree course in clinical chiropractic pediatrics. This course, now fully accredited by the University of Wales and delivered to the profession by McTimoney Dr Neil Davies, Chiropractic Author & EducatorCollege of Chiropractic, is currently offered to chiropractors in many countries. Dr Davies is well known as a visiting lecturer and conducts seminars in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, UK, Ireland, Israel, Sth. Africa and Nth America. In January 2000, Dr Davies founded Kiro Kids, a company which has been engaged in delivering seminars and courses in chiropractic pediatrics and education in 14 countries making it the undisputed leader in the field. In the same year, Dr Davies released his evidence-based text, "Clinical Pediatrics A Clinical Handbook" which relates clinical chiropractic management to pediatrics, with coverage of the key aspects of syndromes most commonly seen by chiropractors working with children. This acclaimed text outlines the essential history-taking, physical assessment, subluxation analysis, diagnosis and management for each syndrome, while addressing relevant pathology of pediatric conditions in as much detail as chiropractors need. No other text offers a perspective on pediatrics that is specifically designed for chiropractic management!

For more information visit: www.neuroimpulse.com.

BACKGROUND: The Cerebral State Monitor™ (CSM) is an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based monitor that is claimed to measure the depth of hypnosis during general anesthesia. We calculated the prediction probability (P(K)) for its ability to separate consciousness from unconsciousness in surgical patients with different anesthetic regimens. METHODS: Digitized EEG recordings of a previous study of 40 nonpremedicated, adult patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia were replayed using an EEG player and reanalyzed using the CSM. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either sevoflurane-remifentanil or propofol-remifentanil. The study design included a slow induction of anesthesia and an episode of intended wakefulness. CSM values at loss and return of consciousness were compared. P(K) was calculated from values 30 seconds before and 30 seconds after loss and return of consciousness. RESULTS: The P(K) for the differentiation between consciousness and unconsciousness was 0.75 ± 0.03 (mean ± SE). For sevoflurane-remifentanil, P(K) was 0.71 ± 0.04. For propofol-remifentanil, P(K) was 0.81 ± 0.03. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of CSM for separation of consciousness and unconsciousness was comparable to other commercially available EEG-based indices.

Anesth Analg. 2011 Dec;113(6):1403-10. Pilge S, Blum J, Kochs EF, Schöniger SA, Kreuzer M, Schneider G. Department of Anesthesiology I, Helios Klinikum Wuppertal, University Witten/Herdecke, Heusnerstr. 40, 42283 Wuppertal, Germany.

Dr Morch-Siddall is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. She is currently Consultant Obstetric Anaesthetist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle upon Tyne and honorary senior lecturer University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

She trained in medical hypnotherapy at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis. She is currently involved in introducing the use of clinical hypnosis at the RVI as a safe addition to the available analgesia and anaesthesia techniques for childbirth.

Despite increased consumer interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the treatment of food allergy, there remains a relative paucity of knowledge regarding the clinical efficacy, mechanisms of action, and safety of most CAM treatments available to consumers. This article focuses on recent advances in CAM for food allergy, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, probiotics, and alternative approaches to allergen immunotherapy. The mechanism of action of several novel approaches to treatment of food allergy is reviewed, but FAHF-2 is the only investigational herbal formulation currently validated for use in human clinical trials.

Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2012 Feb;32(1):135-50. Wisniewski JA, Li XM. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of Virginia, 409 Lane Road, Box 801355, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.

Many dermatological disorders have a psychosomatic or behavioral aspect. Skin and brain continually interact through psychoneuroimmunoendocrine mechanisms and through behaviors that can strongly affect the initiation or flaring of skin disorders. It is important to consider these mind-body interactions when planning treatments for specific skin disorders in individual patients. Mind-influencing therapeutic options that can enhance treatment of skin disorders include standard psychotropic drugs, alternative herbs and supplements, the placebo effect, suggestion, cognitive-behavioral methods, biofeedback, and hypnosis. When individual measures do not produce the desired results, combinations of drugs or addition of non-drug therapies may be more successful. Psychophysiological skin disorders may respond well to non-drug and drug therapies that counteract stress. Treatment of primary psychiatric disorders often results in improvement of associated skin disorders. Psychiatric disorders secondary to skin disorders may also require treatment. Therapeutic options for each of these are discussed.

© 2011 The International Society of Dermatology.

Int J Dermatol. 2011 Nov;50(11):1309-22. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2011.05096.x. Shenefelt PD. Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. pshenefe@health.usf.edu

OBJECTIVE: To draw a profile, and study the media habits for cigarette smokers in Saudi Arabia using the Target Group Index survey (TGI). METHODS: A household survey using the TGI sample was conducted in March 2008 in 21 cities in Saudi Arabia. A sample of 7003 individuals aged 15 years or more, male and females, living in town and cities, were randomly selected using the multistage sampling technique. One individual per household was interviewed using a structured questionnaire covering socio-economic profile, media exposure, and cigarette consumer information. The study was conducted in Arabian Center for Tobacco Control, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking was 35.9% in males, and 2.3% in females. This was significantly higher in the age group 30-49 years compared with younger ages (p=0.001). Among smokers, 22.3% were heavy smokers, 69.3% were using regular flavor cigarettes, and 22.4% tried to quit smoking but failed. The most common methods of quitting smoking were; nicotine gum (18.5%), hypnosis (14%), nicotine patch (8%), and acupuncture (3%). Ninety-eight percent of the smokers watched TV daily, noticed mainly big outdoor ads, and 46% used the Internet daily. Favorite TV and radio channels, newspaper, magazine, and interesting topics for the smokers were recorded, and the main smoker profile was drawn. CONCLUSION: The TGI can be used to draw a smoker profile and identify different segments with the greatest opportunities to send anti-smoking messages.

Saudi Med J. 2011 Oct;32(10):1055-9. Albedah AM, Khalil MK, Khalil AA, Elolemy AT. Arabian Center for Tobacco Control, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 11176, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.