Summary

Original source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3548050.stm

Details

• Mysterious pain, such as lower back pain, may originate in the brain rather than the body, according to a study.
• Scientists from University College London and the University of Pittsburgh carried out tests on eight people.
• Some were hypnotised and told they were in pain.
• Scans showed that both experienced similar brain activity.
• The researchers said the findings, published in NeuroImage, suggested that pain can sometimes begin in the brain.
• "The fact that hypnosis was able to induce a genuine painful experience suggests that some pain really can begin in our minds," said Dr David Oakley, director of the hypnosis unit at UCL.
• A survey published last year suggested as many as one in seven Britons are in constant pain.
• In many cases, their condition cannot be explained by doctors, who are unable to identify the cause using conventional tests.
• Dr Oakley said the findings showed that patients reporting mysterious pains should not be dismissed by doctors.
• "A lot of people have been dismissed as malingers," he said.
• "People reporting this type of pain are not simply imagining it."
• Dr Oakley said the findings suggest that alternative treatments for mysterious or unexplained pain should now be explored.
• "If this pain has an origin in the brain it suggests that you can use other therapies, such as hypnosis, to alleviate the pain," he said.
• The UK charity Pain Concern said many doctors continue to dismiss patients if they can't find a cause of their pain.
• "There are still doctors writing pain off as psychological," a spokeswoman told BBC News Online.
• It has a huge impact on patients."

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