Hypnosis as an adjunct therapy in the management of diabetes.

Although diabetes is one of the most serious global health problems, there is no real cure yet for it. The conventional insulin treatment programs aimed at life quality improvement do not take into account the psychological aspects of the disease. Because diabetes has important psychological components, it seems reasonable to consider hypnosis as an adjunct therapy for diabetes. This paper examines the empirical literature on the effectiveness of hypnosis in the management of diabetes, including regulation of blood sugar, increased compliance, and improvement of peripheral blood circulation. Despite some methodological limitations, the literature shows promising results that merit further exploration. Multimodal treatments seem especially promising, with hypnosis as an adjunct to insulin treatments in the management of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes for stabilization of blood glucose and decreased peripheral vascular complications.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2008 Jan;56(1):63-72.

Xu Y, Cardeña E.

Lund University, Lund, Sweden.