THE PLACEBO RESPONSE
A placebo (from the Latin for "I will please") is an inactive medication or treatment given to a patient in place of a genuine drug or medical technique. In clinical trials, new
treatments are tested against a placebo, which may be a sugar pill or meaningless procedure. Because patients expect it to work, the placebo may have a therapeutic effect. This is in fact the self-healing response, which conventional doctors often dismiss because placebos are not an intervention. However, it is highly significant that, when given a placebo, around 30 percent or people in clinical trials feel much improvement; some researchers say this can rise to as much as 90%. The opposite also appears to be true - patients receiving insensitive treatment from practitioners often feel worse - a "nocebo" effect. How a treatment is given, by whom, and in what setting, is clearly important, but little is understood about the physical and psychological processes involved. All treatments, however, particularly surgical procedures, do have a large placebo component. Immune system research has shown how patients' expectations and feelings can influence healing processes, and the mind/body relationship in all illness, especially long-term disease, has a major effect on the outcome of health problems.
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MoonDragon's Alternative Health Therapy: Touch & Movement Therapies
MoonDragon's Alternative Health Information: An Explanation of Holistic Medicine
