Obesity
Conditions
Brief summary
The investigators hypothesized that hypnosis is an alternative technique that could be applied to help patients with obesity to lose weight. The possibility that a self-conditioning technique (self-hypnosis) added to traditional approach (diet, exercise and behavioral recommendations) will be effective in determining weight loss with respect to the traditional approach in subjects with a body mass index (BMI) between 35 and 50 kg/m2 will be studied.
Detailed description
Obesity is a serious health concern. Most lifestyle interventions fail over time; indeed, overeating often involves loss of control and compulsive behaviors. Hypnosis could increase the ability to control emotional impulses. Self-conditioning techniques borrowed from hypnosis (self-hypnosis) increase self-control and self-management of emotions. Recent hypnosis techniques with a rapid-induction phase allow the trained patients to go into self-hypnosis in a few minutes and to repeat the experience in complete autonomy, employing a short time of the day only.
Interventions
OTHERself-conditioning techniques
Self-hypnosis to increase self-control before meals and every food compulsion episode
OTHERstandard care (diet, exercise and behavioral therapy)
dietary recommendations, exercise recommendations, and behavioral recommendations
Sponsors
University of Turin, Italy
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Able to give written informed consent * BMI between 35 and 50 kg/m2 * Age 20-70 years
Exclusion criteria
* Current or previous mental disorders and/or on any psychotropic drug * Insulin treatment * Candidates for bariatric surgery * Current (or discontinued for less than 6 months) treatment with anti-obesity drugs * Patients at risk of heart failure, edema, ascites (heart diseases, chronic liver diseases, nephrotic syndrome, renal failure) * Patients with untreated or uncompensated thyroid diseases
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| weight loss | 12 months after randomization |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in body fat percentage | 12 months after randomization | Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) |
| Change in fasting glucose | 12 months after randomization | — |
| Change in insulin circulating values | 12 months after randomization | — |
| Change in quality of life | 12 months after randomization | EuroQol (EQ)-5D \[Index and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) |
Countries
Italy
Outcome results
None listed