MEDICAL experts are calling for the city’s hypochondriacs to volunteer for a new programme which could help cure them of their ‘illness’.

Hypochondriasis is a condition where the sufferer feels excessively anxious about their health even though there is nothing physically wrong with them.

There is no known cure for the condition, which affects around five per cent of the population, but psychologists from Oxford University who are researching the problem believe ancient forms of meditation can help combat the symptoms.

Dr Freda McManus and Professor Mark Williams, from Oxford University’s Department of Psychiatry, have already recruited 40 people for their study.

They will also offer free classes to 40 more people aged between 18 and 70 who suffer from health anxiety.

Dr McManus said the most common illnesses for people to think they have are those without any immediate symptoms, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and brain tumours.

She added: “The term hypochondriac is not one we generally use, as it can be insulting to people because it is seen as defining a person by their illness. It is a bit like calling someone with schizophrenia a ‘schizo’. A certain amount of anxiety about your health is normal.

“There are normal worries which everyone gets, say if you find a lump. If you get a new symptom or see something on the television it can make you wonder.

“But for some people the fears aren’t relieved when their doctor tells them there’s nothing wrong.

“Or if one fear is reassured, another develops in its place.

“For about five per cent of the population health anxiety becomes a clinical problem which can prevent people from being able to live their life in the way they would like.”

The Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) classes combine ancient forms of meditation with modern cognitive therapy.

The classes are intended to help people change their thoughts so they can change their behaviour.

Health anxiety sufferers will attend classes for eight weeks where they will be taught to use meditation to face their fears of illness. They will learn to accept their fears through ‘mindfulness’, rather than try and push them out of their minds.

Dr McManus said she wants to establish whether the classes she has devised will help general wellbeing of sufferers.

She added: “It’s about accepting at the end of the day we are all eventually going to get ill and die — that’s a fact of life. What we are trying to do is get people to be less affected by these worries and learn to live with that knowledge.”

People who are interested in participating in the trial should contact the team on 01865 613143, or email freda.mcmanus@ psych.ox.ac.uk awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk