Some Research That Proves These Claims...

The scientific research is conclusive. If you are capable of entering into a moderately deep state of hypnosis (something 70% of the population can achieve), then hypnosis can help you. Here is a summation of some of these studies...

Helping With Auto-Immune Diseases

Mind-Body Hypnotic Imagery in the Treatment of Auto-Immune Disorders. The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 2007, vol. 50, no2, pp.157-170. Torem MS.

This paper discusses the old belief that the body's immune system worked independently from the central nervous system. Then it highlights the advances that have been made in the last 50 years that prove these systems not only interact, but actively influence each other. The author then shows how this interaction provides a doorway that allows hypnosis and imagery to influence the immune system. The author then provides five cases where hypnosis was successfully used to help people suffering from auto-immune disorders.

Controlling Pain

Hypnotic Treatment of Chronic Pain. J Behav Med. 2006 Jan 11;:1-30. Jensen M, Patterson DR.

This paper reviewed various controlled trials involving the use of hypnosis to control pain. It concluded that hypnosis can provide a significantly greater reduction in pain than physical therapy, education, or the management of medications. It even found that the hypnotic treatment did not even have to be called 'hypnosis' for it to be effective.

fMRI Study Of Hypnosis-Induced Analgesia. A paper presented to the 17th Meeting of the European Neurological Society, 2007. May TS.

This paper reports on a study involving 13 healthy subjects who underwent 'functional magnetic resonance imaging' (fMRI) of their brain while a painful laser beam was focused on their left hand. The researchers found there was a significant change in the way their brains responded to this while they were in a normal state, compared to when they were in hypnosis. In both the normal and the hypnotic state, the primary somasensory cortex (the area in the brain that first receives the pain signals) noticeably reacted to the pain. When the subjects were in a normal state, this had a cascading effect on other parts of the brain involved in the perception of, and reaction to, pain (such as "the anterior cingulated gyrus"). However, when they were in a state of hypnosis this cascading effect did not occur. This means that while in a state of hypnoanalgesia the brain registers the pain, however it does not pass these signals onto the other areas of the brain involved in perceiving, feeling and reacting to the pain.

Functional Anatomy Of Hypnotic Analgesia: A Pet Study Of Patients With Fibromyalgia. Sweden Eur J Pain. 1999 Mar;3(1):7-12. Wik G, Fischer H, Bragee B, Finer B, Fredrikson M

This study involved patients suffering from the painful condition, fibromyalgia. They were then either hypnotized and given suggestions for pain relief, or simply allowed to enter into a state of resting wakefulness. A PET (positron emission tomography ) scan was then taken of the flow of blood in their brain. There were noticeable difference in the blood flow patterns when the subjects were hypnotized as compared to when they were merely in a state of resting wakefulness. The researchers found that when the subjects were in a state of hypnosis," the cerebral blood-flow was bilaterally increased in the orbitofrontal and subcallosial cingulate cortices, the right thalamus, and the left inferior parietal cortex, and was decreased bilaterally in the cingulate cortex." This proved that hypnosis causes real changes to occur in the brain on both a cortical and subcortical level. Changes that can alter our experience of pain.