Re: The Placebo Effect

I am definitely a strong believer in the placebo effect. Norman Cousins went into great deal on it in his book, "ANATOMY OF AN ILLNESS". Belief can be powerful. I take the studies that white shark posted with a grain of salt. I have read many years about the studies that say we do not need extra salt. Claims are that we get enough in our food. White coats can sit in cool, sterile labs and say anything. Let them get their butts out in the sun and try it. This year I got to drinking my water at room temperature and with Sea Salt added. I work outside in the sun and for the first time in memory I did not have to fight nausea nor headaches nor extreme exhaustion from the heat. So much for the sterile studies.

Here is one of the most interesting examples of the power of belief I have run across. Taken from the linked page:
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Taken from this page: http://www.mind-body-health.net/index.html?placebo.html&1

One of the most remarkable accounts of the placebo effect is that of Dr Bruno Klopfer and Mr Wright, a cancer patient who had only a few weeks to live. Dr Klopfer treated Mr Wright with an experimental cancer drug called Krebiozen. Shortly after being injected with the drug, the patient's tumour masses "melted like snowballs on a hot stove". A few months later, however, when the newspapers published the results showing that the drug was worthless, Mr Wright's tumours appeared again.

Suspecting that Mr Wright's belief in the drug had caused his previous recovery, Dr Klopfer told Mr Wright that he was going to give him a double strength of a more active form of the drug, but in reality the injections simply contained distilled water. Again the tumours disappeared and Mr Wright was healthy for two more months.

Then the newspapers published a story about the worthlessness of the drug, this time without any doubt. After reading this story, Mr Wright's tumours reappeared and he died within two days.
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I do have lots of experience with the placebo effect and many observations of others. And the power of belief is very powerful.

Corey Tweet