Placebo Effect – a diatribe

For those who want a very good breakdown of what the various intellectuals’ perceive, look here:

http://skepdic.com/placebo.html


Ever wonder why there is so much confusion about the placebo effect?

Here’s something from Petr Skrabanek and James McCormick, Follies and Fallacies in Medicine.

"The physician's belief in the treatment and the patient's faith in the physician exert a mutually reinforcing effect; the result is a powerful remedy that is almost guaranteed to produce an improvement and sometimes a cure."

Wow, isn’t that a great intellectualism!!??

Does that mean the patient would be better off being ignorant and simply having faith in the Doctor’s belief that he really does know what he’s doing?

So, blood letting is ok to remove the “bad” blood?

But only If the Doctor believes it and the patient can “feel” his belief?

Sounds good to me! Just stencil “stupid” across my forehead.

How about this one.

“The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health not attributable to treatment”.

At least that gives us a clue as how to define the placebo effect.

Anything that makes us feel or get better that is not a verified or condoned medical procedure is due to the placebo effect.

That of course, is a favorite of the medical profession.

After all, by legalize they’re the only one’s who can “cure” anyone.

For practical use however, it’s a bit over the top.

So am I confused about the how or why of the placebo effect?

Nope, not in the least. In fact I use it quite frequently.

The reason people have problems understanding the PE is that they don’t realized how hung-up they are with the medical professions beliefs.

As long as you use the medical’s belief of “you’re sick because you caught a bug”.

You will never be looking in the proper context and therefore will never be able to discern what the placebo effect really is about.

In fact, a single word can denote the placebo effect, that word?

Stress.

After finishing this post, when someone tells you what appears to be a PE story, you’ll be able to figure out the real cause.

First of all, I need to adjust how you view “the why” you get sick.

After all, you do know that the body is immune and impervious to practically everything?

Well, it is.

Which should tell you how screwed up the medical perspective is.

Your view of health should be along these lines:

1. If I provide the resources the body needs, it will not have the stress of compensating for the lack.
This will increase my “overhead” (the ability to withstand stress of any type)

2. If I eliminate waste appropriately, my body will not be stressed to compensate for additional toxicity.
This will increase my “overhead”.

3. If I remove daily mental stress though meditation or spiritual means this prevents accumulated mental stress.
This will increase my “overhead”.

4. While #3 will help with emotional imprints or “engrams” these MUST be addressed at some time.
This will increase my “overhead”.

5. I must find out what possible hereditary weaknesses I have and compensate for them.
This will increase my “overhead”.

6. One or more health "problems" may be easily over-riden by the accumulative total of over all overhead.

The body sees things as stressful...or not. Nothing else.

Let’s create an arbitrary reference level of zero to 500 and give some practical perspectives of what happens.

You are around people who are coughing air borne bugs.

At zero you have no overhead. You catch a “bug” and get “sick”.

At +100 your nasal passageway has a slight moist coating (normal protection) which encapsulates the “bug”. You do not get sick.

At +200 you had a stressful day at work and didn’t do your meditation. +200 -250 = -50. You catch a “bug” and get “sick”.

At +300 you had a stressful day at work and your car died on the way home. Who does meditation? Not you. +300 -400 = -100 The odds are in your favor. You miss breathing a “bug”, you do not get “sick”.

At +500 Your MIL comes to visit and creates an oppressive environment. +500 -400(MIL) = +100. You do not catch a “bug”, but do get sick.

In this case it’s about the wanting (or needing) to get out of a bad situation.

Add another -300 due to projected negative outcomes (negative attitude) with the MIL or +500 -700 = -200 The same result, you do not catch a “bug”, but do get sick.

The person in question may or may not be aware that the “sickness’ was self induced, as it is “real”.

I threw this in to make you realize that there are always exceptions to what we may “believe”.

But more than anything, you need to be really careful in understanding that you can override a + reading by your mental outlook and projection.

Will you induce something or “catch” something? Does it matter?

This methodology takes into account the various emotional components that play a far greater and significant factor than a lot of people realize.

All good emotional components raise overhead. Laughing, being with a good friend.

Negative emotional components decrease overhead and therefore can lead to getting sick, it does NOT mean, you WILL get sick.

Simply the odds are better.

Giving a person a Sugar pill may be enough to make a person “feel better” in that they are getting help.

This in turn increases the overhead by decreasing the emotional burden.

Will it be enough to go above zero? Hit or miss.

Anytime someone tells you a PE story, look for a reduced emotional burden that increased overhead, that simply went above zero.

If you play with this concept for a while you’ll come to realize you can do many things to increase your overhead and thereby be healthier and less prone to “catching a bug”.

Hope you find this useful.

Your Humble Servant,

Gracefully Savage