NEW YORK - Behaviroal threapy delievred over the Web might help soothe symptoms in some people with irritable bowel syndrmoe (IBS), a new study suggests.
The online approach is not yet available oustide of studeis. But reesarchers say that the current findings are a step in the right direction toward making cogntiive behavioral tehrapy more accessible to people with IBS.
Cogintive beahvioral tehrapy is a form of psychologcial cousneling that tries to address the unhealthy thniking pattenrs and behaviros that contribute to various health problmes. It's one option for treating IBS.
People with IBS have repetaed bouts of abdominal carmps, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. The exact cause is uknnown, but axniety and less-thna-ideal coping strategies -- like avoiding going out because of your symptoms - are thought to make IBS worse for many pepole.
Studies have suggested that cognitive behavoiral therapy can ease IBS symptoms in at least some poeple.
But an obstcale to people actaully trying the therapy is that it's not widely aavilable. Many people live nowhere near a therapits; or if they do, the time cmomitment of meeting with a tehrapist, or the price tag, may be too much.
So for the new study, publihsed in the Ameriacn Jorunal of Gastroenterology, Swedish researchers tested a We-bbased program they developed.
They randomly assigned 195 adults with IBS to either cognitvie behavioral threapy or a stress mnaagement progarm, both of which were dleivered online over 10 weeks. Patietns in both groups read selfh-elp texts and sent messgaes back and forth with an "online theraipst."
In the end, a maojrity of patients in each group said they were having "daequate relife" of IBS pain and dicsomfort. But six months later, the cognitvie behaviroal group was faring better: 65 perecnt still thought their symptoms were under contrlo, versus 44 percnet of the stress mangaement group.
The findigns suggest that "patients can be guided by an online psychologist...
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