By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When an asthma patient came to Dr. Ran Anbar complaining that he suffered attacks any time he smelled cheeseburgers, the pediatric lung specialist realized just how strong the power of suggestion could be in very real medical conditions. Now he helps his patients use this power to their own advantage with self-hypnosis.

``Relaxation is a way of healing,'' Anbar, of the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, told Reuters Health. In the August issue of Pediatrics, Anbar reports on a 13-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis who learned to control pain and anxiety by using a hypnosis technique where he imagined communing with President Theodore Roosevelt.

When the patient, ``Larry,'' balked at having blood taken because he feared the needle, Anbar taught him how to imagine that his skin was numb. Larry felt no pain during the procedure. Later, Anbar taught him to use self-hypnosis to go to a ``relaxing place''--Larry chose to be the home of Teddy Roosevelt.

``He's a history buff,'' Anbar explained, noting that Roosevelt had suffered from respiratory symptoms that were similar to Larry's.

Over time, Roosevelt became Larry's ``inner advisor,'' or what Anbar believes was a representation of his patient's mind. Larry used this relaxation technique to get over his fear of participating in sports and to stop his habit of looking at the ground instead of people's faces.

The use of hypnosis in medicine is nothing new, Anbar said, but many patients and doctors are unaware of how it can be used. The point, according to Anbar, is not only to get people to relax, but also to enable them to gain control over their bodies. He said he has taught about 500 children to relieve conditions such as headaches, stomach pain, breathing problems and bedwetting.

``Self-hypnosis can help any condition,'' Anbar said, ``but you don't need to have a medical condition either.''

Self-hypnosis seems to be particularly helpful for children and teenagers because they want control over their health problems, according to Anbar. And, he said, ``I think kids are better at it because they use their imaginations.''

SOURCE: Pediatrics 2000;106:339-340.

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