Hypnosis In The Treatment Of Warts In Immunodeficient Children

Abstract

Whatever the pros and cons of antibody and cell-mediated immunity, it would seem difficult to accept that either of the above mechanisms could cause the geographically selective destruction of warts as happened in the case of Mrs. M. Is it conceivable that the cure under hypnosis (or indeed with wart charming) may lie in some neurogenic mechanism? This would seem to offer the only explanation of selectivity. Take, for instance, the one wart left on Mrs. M.’s ring finger. What nervous mechanism could be involved? The sympathetic nervous system which would therefore implicate the sweat glands? Under hypnosis patients can be made to produce anatomically localized sympathetic effects such as vasodilation and sweating in one hand or one side of the face. It is noticeable how many people with warts have hot sweaty hands and feet. A leading article (British Medical Journal, 1961) commented that there have been no satisfactory trials on the effect of internal medication on warts and suggested that attention to the sweating of soles and palms might be worthwhile. However, a trial of the sweat-diminishing agent propantheline, which blocks the cholinergic sympathetic nervous supply to the sweat glands, was found to be disappointing, a fact that I have confirmed on 25 of my own patients. However, one fact of importance merits further research. A localized tumour that is virus-induced can be caused by hypnosis to regress completely while a nearby similar tumour remains. If the precise reason for this regression could be determined the findings might have significance in the wider field of cancer research, as well as affording a clue to the more efficient cure of warts.