Sixteen chronic asthmatic patients inadequately controlled by drugs had, after one year of hypnotherapy, a fall in admissions from 44 in the year before starting therapy to 13 in the year after. Duration of stay was reduced for 13 patients by 249 days; prednisolone was withdrawn in 6, reduced in 8 and increased in none. Side effects of drugs were reduced. Although 62% reported improvement on a visual analogue scale, observations of air flow gave variable results.