Mind Over Matter
A particular mind-set or belief about one’s body or health may lead to improvements in disease symptoms as well as changes in appetite, brain chemicals and even vision, several recent studies have found, highlighting how fundamentally the mind and body are connected.
Is the placebo effect just the boost you may get from a sugar pill simply because you believe it will work? New research suggests there is more than just that to be gained from placebos. Emily Nelson reports. (Photo: Getty Images)
It doesn’t seem to matter whether people know they are getting a placebo and not a “real” treatment. One study demonstrated a strong placebo effect in subjects who were told they were getting a sugar pill with no active ingredient.
Full article on the “placebo effect” in The Wall Street Journal.
This quote says it all:
“Right now, I think evidence is that placebo changes not the underlying biology of an illness, but the way a person experiences or reacts to an illness,” Dr. Kaptchuk says.
Reducing stress levels is the key for a number of illnesses, from what I’ve been told.
This is incredible. I wonder if hypnosis could be used to spur this effect.
This one is hard to believe.
I found the final situation presented in the article a little ridiculous – that in a case study of people who received real acupuncture and sham acupuncture (placebo), the latter group actually did better in the long run. This makes no scientific sense unless the sham acupuncture inadvertently did something to treat the problem.