In April 2007, Gemma Bailey created NLP4Kids with Kuldeep Gill, a fellow Trainer of NLP. Together they have created an NLP based program for children to develop their life skills and motivation. NLP4Kids uses the powerful tools of NLP, delivered in a way that is fun and comprehendible for children, encouraging them to co-operate more effectively within groups as well as improving their confidence and commitment when working individually.

She is a GHR/GHSC Registered Senior Level Hypnotherapist, a Registered Master Practitioner with the British Board of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and a NLP Registered NLP Trainer with the American Board of NLP. She is the author of Creating Trance and Hypnosis Scripts.

Daniel Redwood DCDaniel Redwood, DC, is a Professor at Cleveland Chiropractic College - Kansas City. He is editor-in-chief of Health Insights Today (www.healthinsightstoday.com) and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Chiropractic Association, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and Topics in Integrative Healthcare.

A chiropractor, acupuncture practitioner, and writer, Dr. Redwood practiced in Virginia and Washington, D.C., for 26 years before joining the faculty of Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City in mid-2006. In addition his role at the college, he will start to see patients on a part-time basis in the near future.

Dr. Redwood's holistic healing philosophy involves seeing each patient as a whole person whose health is influenced by physical, emotional, and social factors. To help his patients, he draws on years of experience utilizing chiropractic, acupuncture, nutritional counseling, and stress management methods. He also maintains referral relationships with both medical physicians and complementary health professionals for patients who need additional health services.

Recognized as a leader in his field, Dr. Redwood is the author of three books, including the textbook, Fundamentals of Chiropractic (Mosby, 2003), co-authored with Carl S. Cleveland III, D.C., which reviewers have called "the most important book on chiropractic in the last decade" and "simply the best text yet published."

For more information visit: www.drredwood.com.

Hypnotic induction and relaxation strategies are discussed as helpful resources for plastic surgery nurses in providing optimal patient care. An overview of the history and context of these strategies is provided along with descriptions of specific techniques to assist patients to relax when receiving potentially painful procedures. The techniques discussed include mindful focus, focused breathing, body scan, progressive relaxation, and guided imagery. Additional resources are provided for nurses seeking further training.

Plast Surg Nurs. 2011 Jan-Mar;31(1):5-8. Hildebrand LE, Anderson RC. Rebecca Anderson, PhD, is Professor, Medical College of WI, Milwaukee, WI 53226. Lee E. Hildebrand, MA, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI.

Full title: Behavioral therapy with or without biofeedback and pelvic floor electrical stimulation for persistent postprostatectomy incontinence: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT: Although behavioral therapy has been shown to improve postoperative recovery of continence, there have been no controlled trials of behavioral therapy for postprostatectomy incontinence persisting more than 1 year.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral therapy for reducing persistent postprostatectomy incontinence and to determine whether the technologies of biofeedback and pelvic floor electrical stimulation enhance the effectiveness of behavioral therapy.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective randomized controlled trial involving 208 community-dwelling men aged 51 through 84 years with incontinence persisting 1 to 17 years after radical prostatectomy was conducted at a university and 2 Veterans Affairs continence clinics (2003-2008) and included a 1-year follow-up after active treatment. Twenty-four percent of the men were African American; 75%, white.

INTERVENTIONS: After stratification by type and frequency of incontinence, participants were randomized to 1 of 3 groups: 8 weeks of behavioral therapy (pelvic floor muscle training and bladder control strategies); behavioral therapy plus in-office, dual-channel electromyograph biofeedback and daily home pelvic floor electrical stimulation at 20 Hz, current up to 100 mA (behavior plus); or delayed treatment, which served as the control group.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Percentage reduction in mean number of incontinence episodes after 8 weeks of treatment as documented in 7-day bladder diaries. RESULTS: Mean incontinence episodes decreased from 28 to 13 per week (55% reduction; 95% confidence interval [CI], 44%-66%) after behavioral therapy and from 26 to 12 (51% reduction; 95% CI, 37%-65%) after behavior plus therapy. Both reductions were significantly greater than the reduction from 25 to 21 (24% reduction; 95% CI, 10%-39%) observed among controls (P = .001 for both treatment groups). However, there was no significant difference in incontinence reduction between the treatment groups (P = .69). Improvements were durable to 12 months in the active treatment groups: 50% reduction (95% CI, 39.8%-61.1%; 13.5 episodes per week) in the behavioral group and 59% reduction (95% CI, 45.0%-73.1%; 9.1 episodes per week) in the behavior plus group (P = .32).

CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with postprostatectomy incontinence for at least 1 year, 8 weeks of behavioral therapy, compared with a delayed-treatment control, resulted in fewer incontinence episodes. The addition of biofeedback and pelvic floor electrical stimulation did not result in greater effectiveness.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00212264.

JAMA. 2011 Jan 12;305(2):151-9. Goode PS, Burgio KL, Johnson TM 2nd, Clay OJ, Roth DL, Markland AD, Burkhardt JH, Issa MM, Lloyd LK. Department of Veterans Affairs, Birmingham–Atlanta Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. pgoode@uab.edu

Objective: To demonstrate evidence of possible major impacts of psychological stress and psychosomatic interventions on myeloproliferative blood disorders and develop new approaches for the unification and quantified analysis of stress and psychosomatic treatments. Methods: This 3.5- year longitudinal study was based upon the regular blood tests of a person with myelofibrosis who experienced severe and repeated work-related psychological stress and was subjected to psychosomatic treatment in the form of regular (~4 h per day) self-hypnosis sessions. Statistical data analysis was conducted on the basis of an introduced concept of generalized stress that mathematically unifies psychological stress and psychosomatic treatment. Results: Severe stress and psychosomatic treatment were statistically shown to have a major (dominant) impact on blood platelet counts well described by an exponential dependence on cumulative levels of generalized stress. The typical relaxation time for the impacts of both stress and treatment was shown to be ~2 months. Only ~12% of the total variation in platelet counts could be attributed to factors other than psychological stress and psychosomatic treatment. The psychosomatic intervention resulted in a consistent reduction of high platelet counts from ~1,400 × 10(9) l(-1) to approximately the middle of the normal range, with other blood parameters being either approximately stable or showing indications of a strengthening immune system. Conclusions: Our findings give hope for a possible development of psychosomatic treatments of at least some blood disorders. They also indicate a highly instrumental role of platelets in the quantified analysis of stress, psychosomatic interventions, and their neuroimmunological pathways.

Neuroimmunomodulation. 2011;18(3):171-83. Epub 2011 Feb 9. Gramotnev DK, Gramotnev G. Centre for Psychosomatic Treatment, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld., Australia.

PURPOSE: To assess the effect of an oral (O+O), a tactile/kinesthetic (T/K+T/K), and a combined (O+T/K) intervention on preterm infants' weight gain and motor function and to determine whether the combined O+T/K intervention has an additive/synergistic effect on outcomes. DESIGN/SAMPLE: Seventy-five preterm infants were randomized into an O+O intervention consisting of oral stimulation, a T/K+T/K intervention involving whole body stimulation, an O+T/K intervention, and a control group. Interventions were administered for 15 minutes, twice a day, for ten days.

OUTCOMES: Weight gain, motor function. RESULTS: The O+O and T/K+T/K groups had greater weight gain during the intervention period than did controls (p ?.025). The T/K+T/K and O+T/K groups had better motor function than did controls (p ?.017).

CONCLUSION: Single and combined interventions improved growth and motor function. The combined intervention, because of the shorter duration of each modality, did not lead to additive/synergistic effects, suggesting that the duration of the sensorimotor input is as important as its target in achieving defined outcomes.

Neonatal Netw. 2010 Nov-Dec;29(6):359-66. Fucile S, Gisel EG. School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. sandra.fucile@mail.mcgill.ca

BACKGROUND: Influenza is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The recent pandemic of a novel H1N1 influenza virus has stressed the importance of the search for effective treatments for this disease. Essential oils from aromatic plants have been used for a wide variety of applications, such as personal hygiene, therapeutic massage and even medical practice. In this paper, we investigate the potential role of an essential oil in antiviral activity.

METHODS: We studied a commercial essential oil blend, On Guard™, and evaluated its ability in modulating influenza virus, A/PR8/34 (PR8), infection in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Influenza virus was first incubated with the essential oil and infectivity in MDCK cells was quantified by fluorescent focus assay (FFA). In order to determine the mechanism of effects of essential oil in viral infection inhibition, we measured hemagglutination (HA) activity, binding and internalization of untreated and oil-treated virus in MDCK cells by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy. In addition, the effect of oil treatment on viral transcription and translation were assayed by relative end-point RT-PCR and western blot analysis.

RESULTS: Influenza virus infectivity was suppressed by essential oil treatment in a dose-dependent manner; the number of nascent viral particles released from MDCK cells was reduced by 90% and by 40% when virus was treated with 1:4,000 and 1:6,000 dilutions of the oil, respectively. Oil treatment of the virus also decreased direct infection of the cells as the number of infected MDCK cells decreased by 90% and 45% when virus was treated with 1:2,000 and 1:3,000 dilutions of the oil, respectively. This was not due to a decrease in HA activity, as HA was preserved despite oil treatment. In addition, oil treatment did not affect virus binding or internalization in MDCK cells. These effects did not appear to be due to cytotoxicity of the oil as MDCK cell viability was only seen with concentrations of oil that were 2 to 6 times greater than the doses that inhibited viral infectivity. RT-PCR and western blotting demonstrated that oil treatment of the virus inhibited viral NP and NS1 protein, but not mRNA expression.

CONCLUSIONS: An essential oil blend significantly attenuates influenza virus PR8 infectivity in vitro without affecting viral binding or cellular internalization in MDCK cells. Oil treated virus continued to express viral mRNAs but had minimal expression of viral proteins, suggesting that the antiviral effect may be due to inhibition of viral protein translation.

BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Nov 15;10:69. Wu S, Patel KB, Booth LJ, Metcalf JP, Lin HK, Wu W. Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, PR China.

Arreed Barabasz is a Psychologist in Practice and Professor and Director of the Hypnosis Laboratory at Washington State University. He is the Editor of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, a Diplomat of the American Board of Professional Psychology, and recent Past President of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and the Society of Psychological Hypnosis of the American Psychological Association. He conducts workshops for health care professionals worldwide.

He is a licensed psychologist and 'Diplomat of the American Board of Professional Psychology' (ABPP)-the highest distinction in professional psychology. In recognition of "Outstanding and unusual contributions to the science and practice of psychology", he has been awarded Fellow status in the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. By appointment of the Governor of the State of Washington, Dr. Barabasz served on the State Examining Board of Psychology 1993-1998 including a term as Chair and is currently Chair of the Ethics committees for SCEH and APA Div. 30.

He was President of the preeminent Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) (1999-2001) and a recent past President of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 30 (Society of Psychological Hypnosis). Dr. Barabasz was Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, Medical School prior to his Professorship at Washington State University. He has published over 100 refereed research papers and received numerous national awards for his achievements in research, theory and practice. He is the three time winner of the of the coveted Henry Guze Award from SCEH" for best research paper published in the previous year" most recently 1999 for his experimental research showing unique EEG ERP responses to hypnosis.

Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D., is a licensed Psychologist practicing in Encinitas, CA. Stephen was among the group of students that gathered around the founders of NLP during its formation at U.C. Santa Cruz from 1974-1977. Milton Erickson and Gregory Bateson became his teachers and mentors. After receiving his doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University, Stephen became one of the premier teachers and practitioners of Ericksonian hypnotherapy. Motivated by his experiences as a therapist, a teacher, and by his own quest, he developed a new practice of radical awakening incorporating Ericksonian psychotherapy, Aikido, Buddhism, meditation, and the performance arts. His work, known as Self-relations Psychotherapy, reconnects mindbody processes and encourages and supports radical change. The cornerstone of Self-Relations Psychotherapy is the understandings and processes of Sponsorship. The enthusiastic acceptance of Sponsorship and Self-Sponsorship as approaches to therapy and personal change, along with Stephen's transformative presentation style, has led to speaking tours, workshops, and numerous Sponsorship groups throughout North America and Europe to which Stephen provides inspiration and supervision.

Claudia Welch is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine. Dr. Welch lectures regularly on Oriental and Ayurvedic medicines and Women's Health, bringing a depth of knowledge and a sense of joy to her presentations that has established her as a leading educator in the field of Ayurveda. She has served on the teaching faculty of The Ayurvedic Institute, Kripalu School of Ayurveda and Acupractice Seminars. Dr. Welch gave up a thriving private practice to teach around the world and to write. She has written numerous articles that have been published in India, the US and Europe.

2011 also marks the release of her new book, Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and Wellness Through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and Western Science.

Full title: On the history of dissociative identity disorders in Germany: the doctor Justinus Kerner and the girl from Orlach, or possession as an "exchange of the self".

The history of hypnosis is closely linked to the theme of possession; one such link is that the forerunner of hypnosis, animal magnetism, replaced exorcism in 1775 when Franz Anton Mesmer testified against Father Johann Joseph Gassner's exorcism. Modern authors have noted remarkable similarities between states of possession and dissociation. The treatment of possession by animal magnetism and exorcism represents the special romantic-magnetic therapy of the German medical doctor Justinus Kerner in the early 19th century. This article describes the man,his methods, and his thinking and presents one of his most famous case studies, the girl from Orlach, which, by today's standards, was a true case of dissociative identity disorder (DID). This article describes how contemporary principles of treatment were used and controversial issues about the nature and causes of DID were discussed 175 years ago.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2011 Jan;59(1):82-102. Peter B. University of Munich, Germany. Burkhard-Peter@t-online.de

We tested whether changing accuracy demands for simple pointing movements leads humans to adjust the feedback control laws that map sensory signals from the moving hand to motor commands. Subjects made repeated pointing movements in a virtual environment to touch a button whose shape varied randomly from trial to trial-between squares, rectangles oriented perpendicular to the movement path, and rectangles oriented parallel to the movement path. Subjects performed the task on a horizontal table but saw the target configuration and a virtual rendering of their pointing finger through a mirror mounted between a monitor and the table. On one-third of trials, the position of the virtual finger was perturbed by ±1 cm either in the movement direction or perpendicular to the movement direction when the finger passed behind an occluder. Subjects corrected quickly for the perturbations despite not consciously noticing them; however, they corrected almost twice as much for perturbations aligned with the narrow dimension of a target than for perturbations aligned with the long dimension. These changes in apparent feedback gain appeared in the kinematic trajectories soon after the time of the perturbations, indicating that they reflect differences in the feedback control law used throughout the duration of movements. The results indicate that the brain adjusts its feedback control law for individual movements "on demand" to fit task demands. Simulations of optimal control laws for a two-joint arm show that accuracy demands alone, coupled with signal-dependent noise, lead to qualitatively the same behavior.

J Neurosci. 2011 Jan 26;31(4):1219-37. Knill DC, Bondada A, Chhabra M. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14618, USA. knill@cvs.rochester.edu

Natural movements are corrected in part by the generation of submovements, occurring early in a movement such that they amend an ongoing action. Submovements are associated with activity of the basal ganglia, implying a role for the structures in error correction. In parallel, the basal ganglia are linked to the generation and control of force amplitude, change, and duration. Here, we tested whether activity in human basal ganglia is associated with submovements generally, or was specific to a condition where the submovements only occurred in the face of unexpected proprioceptive error. Submovements were induced by introducing unexpected and variable viscous loads (augmenting the need for trial-specific grip forces) or by reducing target size (augmenting the need for visually guided on-line control) in a one-dimensional target-capture task. In both cases, subjects compensated for the increased task difficulty by generating corrective submovements, which were closely matched in frequency and type. Activity in the internal segment of the globus pallidus and subthalamic nucleus correlated strongly with the number of submovements during the viscous challenge but not with the target challenge. The effects could not be explained by kinematic differences, i.e., movement amplitude or average number of submovements. The results support a specific role for the basal ganglia in error correction under conditions of variable load where there is a need for the dynamic control of force within an ongoing movement.

J Neurosci. 2011 Feb 2;31(5):1600-5. Grafton ST, Tunik E. Sage Center for the Study of Mind, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. grafton@psych.ucsb.edu

This study examines the effect of providing information linking participants' attitudes toward hypnosis with later hypnotic performance. Using total scale scores from McConkey's Opinions About Hypnosis scale, as well as subscale scores, the authors found a weak association between attitudes and performance among 460 student participants; however, the correlation was unaffected by prehypnotic information specifically connecting attitudes and performance. A brief, 3-item measure of hypnotic expectancies generated the strongest correlation with hypnotic responsiveness. The authors also found that the association between fantasy proneness and hypnotizability was unaffected by the order of scale administration. Finally, the study highlighted gender differences across measures of fantasy proneness, absorption, expectancy, and hypnotizability.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2011 Jan;59(1):103-21. Green JP, Lynn SJ. The Ohio State University, Lima, OH 45804, USA. green.301@osu.edu

The objective of this review was to assess the effectiveness of reflexology as a symptomatic treatment for breast cancer. In all, 12 databases were searched from the time of their inception through July 2010. Prospective, controlled clinical trials of reflexology in patients with breast cancer that included an assessment of clinical outcome measures were reviewed. Study selection, data extraction, and validations were performed independently by 2 reviewers. One randomized clinical trial (RCT) and three nonrandomized controlled clinical trials (CCTs) met our inclusion criteria. One large RCT showed significant differences in quality of life and mood when reflexology was compared with self-initiated support. Three CCTs tested reflexology compared with no treatment or simple rest. All of them suggested favorable effects of reflexology on pain, nausea, and vomiting. However, they had a high risk of bias. Collectively, the existing evidence does not convincingly show that reflexology is effective for breast cancer care. Future studies seem warranted; they should be of high methodological quality, and include adequate control interventions.

Integr Cancer Ther. 2010 Dec;9(4):326-30.Kim JI, Lee MS, Kang JW, Choi do Y, Ernst E. Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.

Dr. Joseph Barber teaches psychologists and physicians at the University of Washington Medical School. He is an award-winning author on the topic of pain management, and a former President of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. One of the most prominent trends in the field of health and wellness is the growing awareness of the mind-body approach. However, along with the enthusiasm we are sometimes led to hasty conclusions and broad generalizations that sometimes lead to disappointment and disinterest in the field. In his provocative, challenging and often amusing presentation, Dr. Barber looks at controversial claims made in the mind-body field. He separates the fads and fallacies from a scientifically supported understanding of powers of the mind.

Full title: Withaferin A inhibits activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 in human breast cancer cells.

We have shown previously that withaferin A (WA), a promising anticancer constituent of Ayurvedic medicine plant Withania somnifera, inhibits growth of human breast cancer cells in culture and in vivo in association with apoptosis induction. The present study builds on these observations and demonstrates that WA inhibits constitutive as well as interleukin-6 (IL-6)-inducible activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which is an oncogenic transcription factor activated in many human malignancies including breast cancer. The WA treatment (2 and 4 ?M) decreased constitutive (MDA-MB-231) and/or IL-6-inducible (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) phosphorylation of STAT3 (Tyr(705)) and its upstream regulator Janus-activated kinase 2 (JAK2; Tyr(1007/1008)) in MDA-MB-231, which was accompanied by suppression of their protein levels especially at the higher concentration. Exposure of MDA-MB-231 or MCF-7 cells to WA also resulted in suppression of (i) transcriptional activity of STAT3 with or without IL-6 stimulation in both cells; (ii) dimerization of STAT3 (MDA-MB-231) and (iii) nuclear translocation of Tyr(705)-phosphorylated STAT3 in both cells. To our surprise, the IL-6-stimulation, either before or after WA treatment, did not have an appreciable effect on WA-mediated apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 or MCF-7 cell line. The IL-6-stimulated activation of STAT3 conferred a modest protection against WA-mediated suppression of MDA-MB-231 cell invasion. General implication of these findings is that WA can trigger apoptosis and largely inhibit cell migration/invasion of breast cancer cells even after IL-6-induced activation of STAT3, which should be viewed as a therapeutic advantage for this agent.

Carcinogenesis. 2010 Nov;31(11):1991-8. Epub 2010 Aug 19. Lee J, Hahm ER, Singh SV. Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, and University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 5117 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Hypnalgesics founder, interventional radiologist Dr. Elvira Lang, Associate Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, is a pioneer and leading world expert in the use of hypnosis during medical procedures. In fact, she literally "wrote the book" on the subject. Patient Sedation Without Medication draws on Dr. Lang's nearly two decades of field experience serving thousands of patients. Dr. Lang has dedicated her career to improving the experience of patients having medical procedures. Her vision is that one day any patient who enters a hospital or doctor's office will be able to receive good communication and procedure hypnosis for a better experience and a better outcome. The book Patient Sedation Without Medication was written to help healthcare professionals help their patients overcome the anxiety they feel when undergoing medical tests and procedures- without traditional medication.

Full title: A randomized controlled trial of the effects of hypnosis with 3-D virtual reality animation on tiredness, mood, and salivary cortisol.

Case studies suggest hypnosis with a virtual reality (VR) component may be an effective intervention; although few follow-up randomized, controlled trials have been performed comparing such interventions with standard hypnotic treatments. Thirty-five healthy participants were randomized to self-hypnosis with VR imagery, standard self-hypnosis, or relaxation interventions. Changes in sleep, cortisol levels, and mood were examined. Self-hypnosis involved 10- to 20-min. sessions visualizing a healthy immune scenario. Trait absorption was also recorded as a possible moderator. Moderated regression indicated that both hypnosis interventions produced significantly lower tiredness ratings than relaxation when trait absorption was high. When trait absorption was low, VR resulted in significantly higher engagement ratings, although this did not translate to demonstrable improvement in outcome. Results suggest that VR imagery may increase engagement relative to traditional methods, but further investigation into its potential to enhance therapeutic efficacy is required.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2011 Jan;59(1):122-42. Thompson T, Steffert T, Steed A, Gruzelier J. Department of Psychology & Counselling, University of Greenwich, London, UK. t.thompson@gre.ac.uk

Seventy-one patients with recurrent migraine headaches, aged 17-62, from one neurological practice, completed a quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) procedure. All QEEG results indicated an excess of high-frequency beta activity (21-30 Hz) in 1-4 cortical areas. Forty-six of the 71 patients selected neurofeedback training while the remaining 25 chose to continue on drug therapy. Neurofeedback protocols consisted of reducing 21-30 Hz activity and increasing 10 Hz activity (5 sessions for each affected site). All the patients were classified as migraine without aura. For the neurofeedback group the majority (54%) experienced complete cessation of their migraines, and many others (39%) experienced a reduction in migraine frequency of greater than 50%. Four percent experienced a decrease in headache frequency of < 50%. Only one patient did not experience a reduction in headache frequency. The control group of subjects who chose to continue drug therapy as opposed to neurofeedback experienced no change in headache frequency (68%), a reduction of less than 50% (20%), or a reduction greater than 50% (8%). QEEG-guided neurofeedback appears to be dramatically effective in abolishing or significantly reducing headache frequency in patients with recurrent migraine.

Clin EEG Neurosci. 2011 Jan;42(1):59-61. Walker JE. Neurotherapy Center of Dallas, 12870 Hillcrest, Suite 201, Dallas, Texas 75230, USA. admin@neurotherapydallas.com

Meditation and attention are considered associated in different ways. For example, contemporary concepts state that to meditate, a practitioner has either to (i) focus attention on the object of meditation (FA) or (ii) maintain vigilance and disengage their attention consciously from all distracters (OM). The Indian sage Patanjali (circa 900 B.C.), mentioned that there are two stages of meditation, which differ subtly from the descriptions of FA and OM. One stage is called dharana, or focusing attention on the object of meditation. Another stage is called dhyana, during which all thoughts remain effortlessly directed to the object of meditation, excluding all other thoughts. Vigilance and attention are not required during dhyana, which is the actual phase of meditation. In a previous study, participants who practiced dharana performed better in a task for selective attention than those who practiced dhyana. Brainstem auditory evoked potential changes during the two states differed. Descriptions of yoga practices from ancient texts can give added insights about meditation and attention, supported by objective assessments.

Percept Mot Skills. 2010 Dec;111(3):918-20. Telles S, Naveen KV, Balkrishna A. Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. shirleytelles@gmail.com

by Tim Brunson, PhD

If you are the point of your life when you finally admit that you are an alcoholic, you are ready to begin the journey toward recovery. This addiction is nothing new. Unfortunately it is rather popular considering there is an estimated 140 million alcohol addicts in the world. So, there has been a considerable amount of thought and experience when it comes to treating alcoholism and helping a person stay sober for a very long time. In fact, over the years I have met numerous people who have been successful and not touched another drink for years – if ever again.

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Full title: Ideomotor signaling: from divining spiritual messages to discerning subconscious answers during hypnosis and hypnoanalysis, a historical perspective.

Ideomotor movements account for non-conscious motions of the hand held pendulum and Ouija board planchette that once were attributed to external spirits. Chevreul and Carpenter in the mid-1800s pioneered our scientific understanding of ideomotor movements. The intention or thought is transmitted to the motor cortex at a subconscious level, coordinated by the cerebellum, and sent down spinal nerves to the appropriate muscles, inducing micromovements not visible to the naked eye but amplified by the hand held pendulum or by the slow ratchet-like cumulative movements of a finger or other body part. This ideomotor phenomenon has been utilized during hypnotic trance to provide nonverbal communication of "yes" or "no" or "I don't want to answer" using finger signals or hand held pendulum. LeCron first used this ideomotor form of communication in conjunction with psychosomatic hypnoanalysis. Cheek expanded and more recently Hammond, Walsh, Ewin and others have refined its use.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2011 Jan;53(3):157-67. Shenefelt PD. Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, MDC 079, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. pshenefe@health.usf.edu

Full title: A study to examine the attitudes, knowledge, and utilization of CAM by primary care professional in West Texas.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the attitudes, knowledge, and utilization of CAM among primary care providers at two campuses of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC).

DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study design and a convenient sampling method were used. This study employed the questionnaire adapted from the Wahner-Roedler's study to survey participants in TTUHSC. Primary survey collection was conducted at the two campuses where all Family Medicine healthcare professionals were recruited.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured participants' knowledge of, their familiarity and experience with, their attitudes towards and utilization of CAM.

RESULTS: Of the 69 respondents, more than half (56.5%) were female and younger than 36 years. Overall, our study revealed a positive attitude towards CAM. More than 60% of the providers would like to refer a patient to a CAM practitioner and about 75% of them believed that incorporation of CAM therapies into the practice would have a positive impact. Providers were most familiar with and felt most comfortable counseling their patients about massage therapy and St. John's Wort among all CAM modalities. About 70% of the participants believed that the institution should offer proven CAM therapies to patients.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some preliminary findings that may lead to further exploration of healthcare professional's attitudes towards CAM. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Complement Ther Med. 2010 Dec;18(6):227-32. Epub 2010 Nov 3. Zhang Y, Peck K, Spalding M, Xu T, Ragain M. Department of Family and Community Medicine (Lubbock), School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, United States. yan.zhang@ttuhsc.edu

As a Clinical Psychologist Mark was on the staffs of the Mayo Clinic Rochester and Mayo Clinic Jacksonville for a total of 37 years until retiring at the end of 2004. Since then he has been an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of North Florida.

The types of problems for which he specializes in include anxiety disorders, anger management, most types of stress, most types of psychophysiological conditions, mild to moderate depression, and nocturnal enuresis. His professional theoretical orientation has been eclectic with more emphasis on behavior therapies. He has certifications as a biofeedback therapist, sex therapist, and psychological assessment specialist.

He authored and is now co-editing the book, Biofeedback: A Practitioner's Guide in its 3rd Edition and with the 4th Edition in preparation.

This review focuses on how the study of anatomy in India has evolved through the centuries. Anatomical knowledge in ancient India was derived principally from animal sacrifice, chance observations of improperly buried human bodies, and examinations of patients made by doctors during treatment. The Vedic philosophies form the basis of the Ayurvedic tradition, which is considered to be one of the oldest known systems of medicine. Two sets of texts form the foundation of Ayurvedic medicine, the Susruta Samhita and the Charaka Samhita. The Susruta Samhita provided important surgical and anatomical information of the understanding of anatomy by Indians in the 6th century BCE. Here we review the anatomical knowledge known to this society. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Anatomy © 2010 Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

J Anat. 2010 Dec;217(6):646-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2010.01294.x. Epub 2010 Sep 30. Loukas M, Lanteri A, Ferrauiola J, Tubbs RS, Maharaja G, Shoja MM, Yadav A, Rao VC. Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, St George's University, Grenada, West Indies. mloukas@sgu.edu

Full title: EGLN1 involvement in high-altitude adaptation revealed through genetic analysis of extreme constitution types defined in Ayurveda.

It is being realized that identification of subgroups within normal controls corresponding to contrasting disease susceptibility is likely to lead to more effective predictive marker discovery. We have previously used the Ayurvedic concept of Prakriti, which relates to phenotypic differences in normal individuals, including response to external environment as well as susceptibility to diseases, to explore molecular differences between three contrasting Prakriti types: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. EGLN1 was one among 251 differentially expressed genes between the Prakriti types. In the present study, we report a link between high-altitude adaptation and common variations rs479200 (C/T) and rs480902 (T/C) in the EGLN1 gene. Furthermore, the TT genotype of rs479200, which was more frequent in Kapha types and correlated with higher expression of EGLN1, was associated with patients suffering from high-altitude pulmonary edema, whereas it was present at a significantly lower frequency in Pitta and nearly absent in natives of high altitude. Analysis of Human Genome Diversity Panel-Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (HGDP-CEPH) and Indian Genome Variation Consortium panels showed that disparate genetic lineages at high altitudes share the same ancestral allele (T) of rs480902 that is overrepresented in Pitta and positively correlated with altitude globally (P < 0.001), including in India. Thus, EGLN1 polymorphisms are associated with high-altitude adaptation, and a genotype rare in highlanders but overrepresented in a subgroup of normal lowlanders discernable by Ayurveda may confer increased risk for high-altitude pulmonary edema.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Nov 2;107(44):18961-6. Epub 2010 Oct 18. Aggarwal S, Negi S, Jha P, Singh PK, Stobdan T, Pasha MA, Ghosh S, Agrawal A; Indian Genome Variation Consortium, Prasher B, Mukerji M. Genomics and Molecular Medicine, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi 110007, India. Collaborators (151)

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Occasionally I talk to a person who is excessively shy. They feel very uncomfortable around groups of people as they absolutely are certain that everyone is focused on them – and that it must be because something is wrong with them. This leads to a very stressful situation. Many people who have these feelings have problems sleeping and may even develop numerous stress-related health disorders. When a person suffers from excessive shyness, they often find that they are also limiting their careers and preventing themselves from developing rewarding relationships. Fortunately,for many people this is an issue that can be resolved with outstanding results.

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Hal Brickman, the Director and founder of Long Island Hypnosis Center, is an experienced and highly respected hypnotherapist. He received his M.S.W., from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services in 1975. Hal's literary contribution to the field of Hypnotherapy has been embraced by hypnotherapists worldwide and translated into six foreign languages. He has been invited to appear as a featured guest on David Letterman's Late Show on two separate occasions. Hal was also invited to appear as a guest on a television health show pilot hosted by Dr. Rock Positano of The Hospital of Special Surgery.

Full title: Clinical hypnosis with a Little League baseball population: performance enhancement and resolving traumatic experiences.

A model for the use of clinical hypnosis with a Little League population was proposed and outlined with dual emphasis: performance enhancement and resolving traumatic experiences. The Performance Enhancement Training Model was developed to enhance performance with this non-patient population. It employed clinical hypnosis to bring to fruition recommendations made by coaches to enhance players' batting proficiency. The second emphasis of the proposed model focused on the resolution of involuntary maladaptive habits secondary to a traumatic experience that impede or compromise optimum performance. Included in this category were detrimental defensive habits "at the plate" after a beaming by a pitch and detrimental defensive habits "on the field" after being hit by a batted ball.

Am J Clin Hypn. 2011 Jan;53(3):183-91. Iglesias A, Iglesias A. PhDAlex@aol.com

by Tim Brunson, PhD

If you are overly obsessed about what may or may not happen tomorrow, you are totally missing the enjoyment of living each day of your wonderful life and depriving yourself of the excitement that your future may bring. Worrying never solved anything. In fact, it is probably is responsible for making your worst fears a reality.

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BACKGROUND: complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is common among breast cancer patients. Several CAM therapies may have negative side effects or interact with conventional therapies. We studied biologically based CAM use with and without vitamins/minerals in relation to patient and tumor characteristics as well as treatment in an ongoing prospective cohort of 855 primary breast cancer patients. METHODS: patients from two hospitals in southern Sweden were included. Pre-operative and follow-up questionnaires containing questions on food intake, lifestyle, and concomitant medications, including natural remedies, were completed up to five years postoperatively. Clinical information was obtained from clinical records and tumor characteristics from pathology reports.

RESULTS: CAM and/or vitamins/minerals were used by 34.2% pre-operatively and by 57.9% during at least one visit. Over 100 different preparations were reported. At least eight of the commonly used preparations may interact with conventional breast cancer therapies. CAM users more often had a BMI <25 kg/m(2) (OR 1.76; 95%CI 1.33-2.33), were more often nulliparous (OR 1.59; 1.08-2.34), alcohol (OR 2.13; 1.44-3.14), antidepressants (OR 1.48; 1.02-2.15), and hormone therapy users (OR 1.57; 1.18-2.07), less often smokers (OR 0.71; 0.50-0.99), and consumed less coffee (OR 0.88; 0.82-0.95) than non CAM users. Tumor characteristics were not associated with CAM use. CAM use was more common among tamoxifen (OR 1.32; 1.00-1.75) and less common among chemotherapy (OR 0.63; 0.42-0.92) treated patients. Vitamins/minerals use was more common in aromatase inhibitor treated patients (OR 1.84; 1.33-2.53). There was no significant association between short-term disease-free survival and CAM use.

CONCLUSION: CAM use was common and associated with certain patient characteristics. CAM use may cause clinically significant drug interactions and it is therefore of clinical interest to identify potential CAM users.

Acta Oncol. 2011 Jan;50(1):134-43. Epub 2010 May 25. Hietala M, Henningson M, Ingvar C, Jönsson PE, Rose C, Jernström H. Department of Oncology, Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Sweden.

by Tim Brunson, PhD

Many people dream of living a life in which everything just seems to click. Their golf game is always under par, they attract the friends and relationships they desire, and even their finances always seem to be just as they had imagined. Others admire them. And, they feel pretty darn good about themselves. Don't you wish that I just described you?

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BACKGROUND: Centrifuge training is an important method of improving the hypergravity tolerance of pilots, cosmonauts, and Chinese astronauts. However, the concomitants of tension or anxiety often impede training. Guided imagery (GI), a mind-body relaxation technique, provides a behavioral and cognitive means whereby individuals are able to exert control over the focus of attention. This study aims to investigate the immediate effects of GI for reducing stress in centrifuge training.

METHODS: There were 12 healthy young men who were randomly assigned to a GI group or music group. We measured changes in heart rate during centrifuge training, in heart rate variability before and after centrifuge training, and also evaluated relaxation and anxiety in three phases: before intervention, after intervention, and following centrifuge training.

RESULTS: The change in the pattern of anxiety was different in the two groups over the three phases. Anxiety (measured by State Anxiety Inventory) in the GI group changed from 31.7 +/- 5.9 to 26.8 +/- 2.6 and 27.8 +/- 4.1, whereas for the music group this changed from 32.2 +/- 7.6 to 31.2 +/- 8.3 and 26.8 +/- 6.8. During centrifuge training, the maximal HR for the GI group (101.2 +/- 8.8) was lower than that of the music group (123.0 +/- 19.1). In addition GI showed a decrease in low frequency (LF, 0.04-0.15 Hz) components and an increase in high frequency (HF, 0.15-0.4 Hz) components before and after centrifuge training.

CONCLUSION: GI was capable of decreasing tension, anxiety, and sympathetic nervous system activity pre- or post-centrifugation.

Aviat Space Environ Med. 2011 Feb;82(2):92-6. Jing X, Wu P, Liu F, Wu B, Miao D. State Key Laboratory of Space Medicine Fundamentals and Application, China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing, China.

by Tim Brunson, PhD

I want to start out by saying that it is okay for you to read this article. I know that you will get something out of it and that you are capable of reading it in its entirety. Of course, most people already know this. Clearly they don't need my permission. However, there are others who seem to always doubt that they have the capability – and the right – to face life's obstacles no matter how small and insignificant.

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There is a re-occurring question in medical practice: do positive attitude and communication of the medical staff make any difference? Aim: Our aim is to present a comprehensive image of the medically relevant effects of positive suggestions by reviewing the recent literature. Methods: We review the studies measuring the effects of suggestive communication of the past 20 years. In cases of studies presented in more details we quote from the suggestion scripts used in the study, too. Results: Most of the reviewed papers affirm that positive suggestions lead to decreased pain and use of pain medication. But physiological factors like bowel motility, blood pressure and bleeding during surgery can be positively affected, too. Conclusions: Suggestive communication - a yet poorly utilized tool - used appropriately can significantly affect healing and recovery of a patient. Thus we emphasize further, more detailed study of this technique and its integration into the education of medical professionals.

Orv Hetil. 2011 Jan 16;152(3):96-106. Kekecs Z, Varga K. Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Pszichológiai Intézet Budapest Izabella u. 46. 1064. kekecs.zoltan@gmail.com