The Placebo Effect
November 17th, 2013
Medical research has employed the use of placebos for years to determine the efficacy of a new medicine or procedure. In one study, involving patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, there were two different surgeries being tested. Participants were also informed that they might receive a placebo surgery.
They were unaware which surgery they would receive but were informed, and required to acknowledge, that the placebo surgery would not benefit their arthritis. During the two years of follow up, all 3 groups reported improvement. Indeed, the placebo group reported better outcomes than one of the surgery groups. The word placebo is Latin and means, ?to please?. It worked its way into medicine when doctors began giving patients treatments more to please them than to benefit them. Whether they felt the patient was beyond help, or not in need of any, the placebo became a solution they could implement. Ironically, it worked.Understanding this phenomenon has been a driving force as science seeks to learn why the placebo response is so big. It is not active medicine but statistically has an effect on 1 out of 3 people. Brain scans reveal activity in response to placebos. The same neural pathway is activated by the EXPECTATION of benefit as is by actual medication.
Even more interesting, the placebo response doesn?t seem to care what the catalyst for healing is, all it requires is a reasonable expectation of getting better.
When an embryo is developing, cells come together and form tissues, tissues come together and form organs and organs come together and form body systems. It is the nervous system that organizes all of this and, by the branching of peripheral nerves, forever links every cell to the brain. In this way, the nervous system brings belief to the body.
Since placebos cure by belief in them, belief alone can illicit healing, making it an innate capacity of the mind/body ? though not usually under voluntary control. Yet.
We?ve probably all heard at least one story of the miraculous: the superhuman strength of the parent lifting a vehicle off their child, or the spontaneous remission of a late stage cancer. These phenomenons reveal the extraordinary powers we all possess.
The placebo effect proves the existence of an actual mechanism; a switch of sorts, that effectively, accurately and efficiently utilizes our different systems (circulatory, immune, nervous etc.) ? and that switch is in the mind. Mind over matter is a scientific fact.
On the other side of the coin is the nocebo effect. This is when symptoms get worse after taking the placebo. These reactions tend to occur after advanced warnings of (possible) detrimental side effects.
The mere suggestion that the patient might experience something negative can be enough to affect that outcome. Past experiences and strong emotions tend to intensify the effect of both the placebo and nocebo response.
Current research in neuroscience is exploding with new information about our incredible brain. Our attempts to understand or even conquer the nervous system have exposed just how powerful the brain is.
The placebo and nocebo responses illustrate once again, that prior conditioning and personal beliefs can determine potential outcomes.
What would you be capable of if you didn?t think it was impossible?
What default conditioning from your past is affecting your current circumstances? NeuroCue has been designed to lead you to brighter outcomes by custom designing your conditioning through the power of your brain?s neuroplasticity. Would you like better relationships, more personal fulfillment, new career skills, increased financial opportunity, more peace-of-mind, and better health?
(The Department of Veterans Affairs and Baylor College of Medicine study published in the July 11 New England Journal of Medicine),