23 July,2010 01:53 PM IST | | Agencies
British patients, who are obese, are being hypnotised into thinking their stomach is the size of a golf ball in a pioneering NHS treatment.
The treatment, which is on trial at a GP's surgery, is said to have helped patients lose up to 11lb a week, and to have a 95 percent success rate.
Clinical hypnotherapist Sheila Granger makes patients believe their stomachs have shrunk to less than two inches wide so they eat smaller portions.u00a0
"The initial results are promising, with one patient reporting weight loss of 11lbs in the first week. Others lost 2 to 3lbs," the Sun quoted her as saying.
She is treating ten people on a month-long course at the Beverley and Moles-croft surgery in East Yorkshire.u00a0
The treatment, which normally costs 350 pounds, is being provided free.
"We are particularly interested in the potential to help patients with significant obesity," surgery GP Dr Guy Clayton said.
The Department of Health added: "It is up to doctors locally to decide the best treatments for their patients."
