3 ms·

> And I cannot comprehend how anyone who sees themselves as scientific can genuinely insist in earnest that the power of belief has more influence over my physi

> And I cannot comprehend how anyone who sees themselves as scientific can genuinely insist in earnest that the power of belief has more influence over my physical body than the power of food chemistry. It would appear belief can have an extreme severe acute impact on our bodies. It follows then belief can also have chronic affects. People can die simply because they've given up, life has beaten them and they feel defeat is inescapable, according to new research. The study, by Dr. John Leach, a senior research fellow at the University of Portsmouth, is the first to describe the clinical markers for 'give-up-itis', a term used to describe what is known medically as psychogenic death. https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2018-09-people-die.html https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2018-09-people-die.html HN discussion here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18083509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18083509 It appears you didn’t comment on that one, so perhaps you missed it? Also, it stands to reason the affect of foods, herbs, essential oils, what have you, on people probably follows a bell curve distribution and therefore there are likely to be extreme outliers. This may explain why some people experience significant clinical effects from, say, Rosemary and Sage, while others not. This brings me to something I like to highlight: the difference between public health policy and individualised medicine. It might not be sound public health policy to put essential oils in the water, although I’m not aware of any rigorous studies, but may be sound advice for a component of individualised wholistic care. Disclosure: I’ve dabbled in nutritional and herbal medicine, with four years of formal study and the resultant certifications, here in Australia. For what it’s worth.

DoreenMichele 8y ago
Thank you. It's a reasonable comment. Unfortunately, in the context of multiple people being incredibly dismissive, it somewhat comes across as just another dismissal, though I sincerely believe you don't mean it that way. For context, my official diagnosis is atypical cystic fibrosis. I was diagnosed a bit over 17 years ago. I had been bedridden for several months and had a hole in my left lung. Classical CF accounts for about 1/3 of all adult lung transplants and 1/2 of all pediatric lung transplants in the US. It has a very low life expectancy and you typically take about $100k worth of drugs annually to manage it with no hope of actually getting well. So I have a lot of baggage from internet strangers insisting that the hole in my lung closing and my ability to get off multiple prescription drugs etc is obviously due to placebo effect and couldn't possibly be due to extensive dietary and lifestyle changes, nor could I possibly actually know a fucking thing of any value at all, what with being a woman and former homemaker. I'm leaving this discussion now. Nothing personal against you. I'm just fed up with people attacking my personal anecdotes in a way that doesn't automatically get done to other people who say "I have X diagnosis and I do Y thing for it." Other people can talk about their health and how they manage it without everyone piling on to inform them they are a nutcase who imagined the entire thing. Other points I make are consistently ignored in order to focus on what I said about my firsthand experience and tell me that I don't know what I experienced. Some internet stranger has more expertise in my life than I have. Ugh.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  Yeah, sorry, didn't mean it as a dismissal at all. Was actually trying to support your claims. Good evening.
  - DoreenMichele 8y ago
    I realize that. I apologize for dumping on you.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
      All good, carry on, dump away :)
- milesvp 8y ago
  For what it's worth, the placebo effect is such a strong effect, sugar or no, that the immediate reaction of most skeptics is to attribute most things to it. HN is full of skeptics. I feel you've done a fine job defending you position though. My take on food and mental health is that we are omnivores, and as such we need a wide veriety of foods to be healthy. I have noticed time and again that certain foods smell and taste absolutely heavenly to me one week, and I can't be bothered to eat a spoonful a month later. This is most common for me with high nutrient low calorie foods like salads and soups (though if you pay attention it's there with various sweets as well). All of which makes me very suspicious that it has to do with my body trying to regulate it's nutrient balance. And god forbid you fall out of normal working parameters for certain nutrients, you can end up in a positive feedback loop. There was a study I saw some years ago linking anorexia and a lack of some common metal (zinc or magnesium I think). Not being hungry means you're not likely to get this metal, means you're not hungry...

DoreenMichele 8y ago

Thank you. It's a reasonable comment. Unfortunately, in the context of multiple people being incredibly dismissive, it somewhat comes across as just another dismissal, though I sincerely believe you don't mean it that way. For context, my official diagnosis is atypical cystic fibrosis. I was diagnosed a bit over 17 years ago. I had been bedridden for several months and had a hole in my left lung. Classical CF accounts for about 1/3 of all adult lung transplants and 1/2 of all pediatric lung transplants in the US. It has a very low life expectancy and you typically take about $100k worth of drugs annually to manage it with no hope of actually getting well. So I have a lot of baggage from internet strangers insisting that the hole in my lung closing and my ability to get off multiple prescription drugs etc is obviously due to placebo effect and couldn't possibly be due to extensive dietary and lifestyle changes, nor could I possibly actually know a fucking thing of any value at all, what with being a woman and former homemaker. I'm leaving this discussion now. Nothing personal against you. I'm just fed up with people attacking my personal anecdotes in a way that doesn't automatically get done to other people who say "I have X diagnosis and I do Y thing for it." Other people can talk about their health and how they manage it without everyone piling on to inform them they are a nutcase who imagined the entire thing. Other points I make are consistently ignored in order to focus on what I said about my firsthand experience and tell me that I don't know what I experienced. Some internet stranger has more expertise in my life than I have. Ugh.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
Yeah, sorry, didn't mean it as a dismissal at all. Was actually trying to support your claims. Good evening.
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  I realize that. I apologize for dumping on you.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
    All good, carry on, dump away :)
milesvp 8y ago
For what it's worth, the placebo effect is such a strong effect, sugar or no, that the immediate reaction of most skeptics is to attribute most things to it. HN is full of skeptics. I feel you've done a fine job defending you position though. My take on food and mental health is that we are omnivores, and as such we need a wide veriety of foods to be healthy. I have noticed time and again that certain foods smell and taste absolutely heavenly to me one week, and I can't be bothered to eat a spoonful a month later. This is most common for me with high nutrient low calorie foods like salads and soups (though if you pay attention it's there with various sweets as well). All of which makes me very suspicious that it has to do with my body trying to regulate it's nutrient balance. And god forbid you fall out of normal working parameters for certain nutrients, you can end up in a positive feedback loop. There was a study I saw some years ago linking anorexia and a lack of some common metal (zinc or magnesium I think). Not being hungry means you're not likely to get this metal, means you're not hungry...