Most patients in the 60-day study reduced their consumption of pain medication by 50 percent; some stopped it completely.

It will mean patients get quicker treatment and reduce pressures on hospital outpatient departments.

Two chronic patients effectively reduce the size of an eight-bed unit by 25 percent, he points out.

The results showed that almost all the patients had reduced abnormal behavior and in some cases the subject was completely controlled.

Even the wealthiest patient arriving with a heart attack will face a longer wait and reduced services.

Research has shown that patients who take an aspirin a day reduce their risk of a subsequent stroke by up to 20 percent, he said.

In addition, these patients usually reduce their food intake when disease flares up.

Research suggests that patients may reduce the amount that they eat.

"Under no circumstances," he said, "should patients reduce or stop their insulin by themselves."

They found that schizophrenic patients had dramatically reduced white matter.