What Is the Placebo Effect? Sometimes a person can have a response to a placebo. The response can be positive or negative. For instance, the persons symptoms may improve. Or the person may have what appears to be side effects from the treatment. These responses are known as the placebo effect. There are some conditions in which a placebo can produce results even when people know they are taking a placebo. Studies show that placebos can have an effect on conditions such as: • Depression • Pain • Sleep disorders • Irritable bowel syndrome • Menopause In one study involving asthma, people using a placebo inhaler did no better on breathing tests than sitting and doing nothing. But when researchers asked for peoples perception of how they felt, the placebo inhaler was reported as being as effective as medicine in providing relief. How Does the Placebo Effect Work? Research on the placebo effect has focused on the relationship of mind and body. One of the most common theories is that the placebo effect is due to a persons expectations. If a person expects a pill to do something, then its possible that the bodys own chemistry can cause effects similar to what a medication might have caused. For instance, in one study, people were given a placebo and told it was a stimulant. After taking the pill, their pulse rate sped up, their blood pressure increased, and their reaction speeds improved. When people were given the same pill and told it was to help them get to sleep, they experienced the opposite effects. Experts also say that there is a relationship between how strongly a person expects to have results and whether or not results occur. The stronger the feeling, the more likely it is that a person will experience positive effects. There may be a profound effect due to the interaction between a patient and health care provider. Placebo in lay-mans terms… There are invisible lines of communication everywhere. Human beings normally use a very small percentage of their brain. However, if you put them in emotionally charged situations – like physical trauma, deep meditation, extreme joy or fear – all of a sudden their neurons start firing like crazy which results in a massively enhanced mental clarity. For example, remarkable solutions often occur in seemingly impossible problems in those moments of ‘clarity.’ Gurus call it Higher Consciousness, Biologists call it Altered States, Psychologists call it Super Sentience and the Religious call it Prayer. Sometimes, divine revelations simply means adjusting your brain to hear what your heart already knows. Ref: Dan Brown, Angels & Demons and WebMD
Posted on: Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:32:30 +0000
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