Background: There is growing evidence that allergy and immune function can be influenced by classical conditioning techniques, stress and other psychological factors, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Psychological interventions such as the Hildesheim Health Training® have shown that feed-forward treatment (modification of internal stimuli such as cognitions and emotions, self-hypnotic imagery, classical conditioning of healthy reactions) may influence the extent of allergic immune responses. Objective: To evaluate the impact of psychological factors on allergic immune responses. Methods: In a randomised study the Hildesheim Health Training which includes behaviour therapy, classical conditioning, hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming was evaluated with psychological tests and skin prick tests. Results: While the skin wheal reaction to histamine in allergic controls was clearly enhanced during the pollen season, it remained unchanged in pollen allergic individuals who had received mental allergy therapy. Conclusion: The immune response of birch pollen allergic patients towards histamine provocation can be influenced by psychological interventions such as the Hildesheim Health Training.

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© 2003 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg
2003
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