Current Mind-Body Medicine Research

Currently, the Absenger Cancer Education Foundation is involved in two active research projects with a third research project in the early planning stages.

The first mind-body medicine research project is being conducted right here in West Michigan. The project is titled “Medical Hypnosis and Interleukin-1beta in Breast Cancer Survivors.” Please contact Werner if you would like to participate in this research project. Here is a link to an announcement explaining a little more about the research project.

As of October 19, 2014, we have recruited 21 breast cancer survivors. Fourteen have completed the medical hypnosis study with 7 more ladies scheduled to participant in the next two weeks. We are hoping to have at least 32 breast cancer survivors participate. So if you are or know of someone who might meet the eligibility criteria, please tell them about this study and have them contact Werner.

Here is a copy of the recruitment poster, and the text of the announcement is reprinted below.

Be a participant in a medical research study using a safe meditative mind-body technique using Medical Hypnosis. We are looking for women who have had breast cancer who are not currently undergoing chemotherapy. The study will be used to understand better potential beneficial effects of medical hypnosis on breast cancer patients.

As a research participant, you will work with Werner Absenger, a scientist trained in mind-body medicine, using medical hypnosis as the basis for his dissertation. He will take you through the process of medical hypnosis, which is often described as a very meditative and relaxing experience where you remain fully conscious during the entire process. Saliva samples taken during the research will test for the effects of medical hypnosis on key immune system messengers of the body.

We are also collaborators on another mind-body medicine research project with psychiatrist Chanel Helgason, MD, of Saybrook University and Jerome Sarris, Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Dr. Helgason is the principal investigator for “Telemedicine for mind-body medicine group therapy: A small-scale demonstration project.” This project is nearing its completion with data collection almost complete.

In the near future, we are actively seeking to engage in research projects that fit within the mission and vision of the Absenger Cancer Education Foundation (ACEF).

Future Mind-Body Medicine Research

We are also in the early stages of developing a study manual for a small pilot project to investigate the impact of a yoga chakra-balancing program. The outcome measures for this project will be quality of life and the proinflammatory cytokine milieu in cancer survivors and caregivers.

The Absenger Cancer Education Foundation is confident that West Michigan is a great place to find the necessary community support for cutting-edge mind-body medicine research, usually only found in major metropolitan areas.