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From: arthurgoogle on 6 Jan 2007 10:11

http://www.reutershealth.com/en/index.html

Online therapy may help people with panic attacks

Last Updated: 2007-01-05 14:36:27 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cyber-therapy may offer a new treatment
option for people suffering from panic disorder who can't or won't go
to a therapist's office, new research suggests.

In a study of 60 adults who experienced panic attacks, researchers
found that those who received education and counseling via the Internet
and weekly phone calls had a lasting improvement in their symptoms.

Panic disorder is marked by repeated "attacks" of intense fear that
come out of nowhere, with physical symptoms such as chest pain,
dizziness and shortness of breath. The disorder often goes hand-in-hand
with agoraphobia, a fear of being trapped in situations that are out of
one's control; people with the condition typically avoid public places
and crowds.

Given the nature of the condition, panic disorder patients with
agoraphobia are unlikely to attend psychological therapy sessions. The
new study, which appears in the American Journal of Psychiatry,
suggests that the Internet can provide a way to reach such patients.

"The main idea is to lower the barrier for seeking treatment, so that
people who are too afraid to go to a therapist can get treatment
despite their inability to travel," explained Dr. Per Carlbring, an
associate professor of behavioral sciences at Linkoping University in
Sweden.

People who live in rural areas, far from the therapy they need, could
benefit as well, according to Carlbring's team. However, in Sweden, he
told Reuters Health, the Internet-based approach is also being tested
as a potential routine therapy.

For the current study, Carlbring and his colleagues randomly assigned
60 patients to either an Internet-based therapy group or a waiting list
for treatment. The treatment group received cognitive behavioral
therapy online, through interactive Web pages; at the end of each of 10
educational modules, the patients completed essay questions that were
then assessed by their therapist.

They also spoke with the therapist over the phone once a week.

After 10 weeks of therapy, the researchers found, three-quarters of the
patients no longer met the diagnostic criteria for panic disorder.
Moreover, 9 months later, the patients' improvements were still
apparent -- including decreased levels of anxiety, depression and
physical symptoms.

In an earlier study of 49 patients, the researchers found that
Internet-based therapy appeared as effective as in-person sessions with
a therapist. After one year, Carlbring said, 90 percent of all study
patients no longer had panic disorder.

SOURCE: American Journal of Psychiatry, December 2006.

---

Traumatic stress may alter pain sensitivity

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2007-01-05T193735Z_01_COL570554_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-TRAUMATIC-STRESS-DC.XML&WTmodLoc=SciHealth-C4-Health-7

---

Weight-Loss Marketers Fined For False Ads
(includes CortiSlim and CortiStress)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/04/health/main2330148.shtml

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