Efficacy of hypnosis in the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women:rural and urban samples

This article investigates the effect of hypnosis on immunity and whether this is the key mechanism in the hypnotic treatment of the genital infection caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease and can lead to cervical and other cancers. Current medical treatments are aimed at tissue assault (acids, freezing, surgery). Medical wart clearance rates are only 30% to 70% and recurrence is common. Our research contrasted hypnosis-only with medical-only therapies, using both urban hospital and rural community samples. Both hypnosis and medical therapy resulted in a statistically significant (p < .04) reduction in areas and numbers of lesions. Yet, at the 12-week follow-up, complete clearance rates were 5 to 1 in favor of hypnosis.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2010 Jan;58(1):102-21. Barabasz A, Higley L, Christensen C, Barabasz M. Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA. arreed_barabasz@wsu.edu