Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain’s ‘frequency following’ response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most common gastrointestinal disorder and the worldwide prevalence is roughly between 9 and 20%. In the USA it is between 10 and 15%. It is the most common condition seen by a Gastroenterologist. In the USA, the cost when the indirect cost such as loss of productivity and absenteeism are included is over 21 billion dollars annually.
In the past consuming more fibre was the best advice family doctors gave to their IBS patients. Today we know that some fibre can make IBS symptoms worse. There is no one drug available that works for IBS patient and most IBS sufferers are disappointed with the treatment and care they get from their family practitioners. The common advice given to them is to live with IBS the best way they can and control stress. Disillusioned sufferers turn to alternative treatments and over the counter medications hoping for improvement and in the process spend a lot of hard earned money for little or no gain.
Is there a cure for IBS? The straightforward answer is no. There are, however, several things you can do to live your life with IBS under your control. We now know a lot more about IBS, foods triggers, visceral hypersensitivity, gut motility, serotonin and probiotics to find ways and means to gain significant improvement of all the symptoms of IBS. There is no cure but with the current knowledge and research, there is no reason why we cannot live a life free from all the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Family doctors now refer IBS patients to a dietician who will give good advice on the right diet to follow. The diet they will advise is a low FODMAP diet.
In 2005, Gibson and Shepherd at Monash University published the first FODMAP research results. They studied the effect of FODMAPs on functional gut disorder and found that a low FODMAP diet provided improvement in gut symptoms. Since then further research has given us clear guidance on the foods to avoid for better quality of life with IBS.
76% of patients with IBS improve with a low FODMAP diet (Staudacher et al). It, therefore, should be the first line of treatment for all IBS sufferers along with gluten free foods.
FODMAPs is an acronym for fermentable oligo-di-monosaccharides and polyols and these include fructose, lactose, fructans, galactans and polyols. The general advise is to avoid all foods containing FODMAPs and then gradually introduce FODMAPs in stages to isolate the groups of food that produce symptoms.
In addition, research show that hypnotherapy is best long term treatment for IBS. Hypnotherapy improves all the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology in Manchester University’s Medical School has used Gut Directed Hypnotherapy for IBS for over 20 years and has a success rate of over 70%. He considers it significantly superior to other treatment because it controls all of the symptoms of IBS.
Hypnotherapy will work only if the hypnotherapist can drop the brainwave down to theta level. This is not always possible. Professor Ernest Lawrence Rossi noted that less than 35% of people are hypnotisable. The rest can achieve a hypnotic state by added stimulation that results in brain entrainment.
In theory, every IBS sufferers can use affirmations after dropping down to theta brainwave level by hypnotherapy or the use of sounds and beats, to gain lasting control of all the symptoms of IBS. After this method of treating IBS, sufferers are able to eat foods that were previously triggers. This is as good as cure for IBS.
Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain? ?requency following?response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.
This ?requency following?response of brainwave entrainment can be seen in action with those prone to epilepsy. If a strobe flashes at their seizure frequency, the brain will ?ntrain?to the flashing light, resulting in a seizure.
On the positive side, this same mechanism is commonly used to induce many brainwave states; such as a trance, enhanced focus, relaxation, meditation or sleep induction. The brainwave entrainment effectively pushes the entire brain into a certain state.
Brainwave entrainment works for almost everyone. It is a great way to lead your mind into states that you might usually have difficulty reaching, allowing you to experience what those states feel like.
THE HYPE
There is a lot of marketing hype around brainwave entrainment. It is sold with promises of increasing IQ, promoting weight loss, ?ind-tripping? enhancing creativity, concentration, inducing spiritual states and more.
While these claims are not entirely true, they are not altogether false either. In practice, the claims are based on an overly-simplistic view of how the brain and the brainwaves function.
THE RUB
People are very seldom deficient in a certain brainwave type in all areas of their brain. Usually the distribution is much spottier, with an excess in one area and a deficiency in another.
We are all different, especially when it comes to the distribution of our brainwaves. Boosting a certain brainwave state may be beneficial for one person, and emotionally uncomfortable for another. Without knowing each person? starting position, entrainment can be rather ?it and miss?
If brainwave entrainment leaves you with unwanted side-effects (see below) or discomfort, you?e probably encouraging a range of brainwaves that are already excessive in some area of your brain. The way around this is to get a brain map to see what your brain? strengths and weaknesses are, and see what (if any) brainwaves could use some encouragement.