I agree, however, with Dr. Brody that physicians can “harness” the placebo effect through the quality of care they give. I work in a busy university hospital and have worked in hospitals for nearly two decades. I don’t think that hospitals provide anything I would call health care. Maybe “health service” would be a better term for it. My wife and I both have been admitted to hospitals for overnight stays a couple of times over the past few years. Neither of us feel we received anything that could be called “care.”

Our chiropractor, our massage therapist, and our nutritionist, however, have always treated us respectfully, listened carefully to what we had to say, provided immediate feedback. When we visit these practitioners we DO feel cared for. We feel empowered by their attention and their advice. Maybe the “interventions” we receive from these practitioners has a marginal physiological impact. (I doubt it, personally, but I’m willing to concede the possibility.) The overall positive effect of the visits, however, go a long way toward healing. Of this I’m convinced.

If the placebo effect can be mapped to a part of the brain that processes pain or suffering, then I for one am interested in how I can enhance and develop that part of myself. This reminds me of the meditation research done by Jon Kabat-Zinn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn). It reminds me explicitly of personal changes I’ve experienced in my own health and well-being since becoming a regular yoga practitioner.

I don’t want a doctor telling me I’m getting medicine when I’m not. I DO want to know how to develop my own inherent healing abilities to their fullest. I think the placebo effect is a clue to empowering myself to have a positive influence on my health and my life.

Thanks Mark.

Not sure how I feel about placebo… I just try to stay away from pills in general now.

By the way, one of the most hilarious Onion articles I’ve ever read was on placebo: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39082
Check out the poster for the alleged new drug.

Food Is Love

But we’re in a different era now, and I don’t think placebo use is ethical. I know it can sometimes be effective, but it can also be expensive. I’m talking about chiropractic, homeopathy and certain other alternative treatments here. There’s no basis in science for a lot of these disciplines, to the contrary they often disagree with science and common sense.

If an MD can knowingly administer a placebo under appropriate circumstances and charge a minimal fee, that’s not so bad. But I have no sympathy for alternative health practitioners who suspend their common sense to administer expensive placebo cures. That type of practice also leads to abandoning treatments that are actually effective.