I don't know of people dying from a belief that they were cursed, but we do certainly know that placebos can have very real, measurable neurobiological effects.

I don't know of people dying from a belief that they were cursed, but we do certainly know that placebos can have very real, measurable neurobiological effects. For example, there many studies looking at the body's response to placebo painkillers. The brain often releases neurotransmitters that bind to opioid receptors as if an actual painkiller had been taken: https://www.nature.com/articles/535S14a https://www.nature.com/articles/535S14a The original comment was about placebos bringing "powerful relief," which there is a great deal of scientific research to support. As far as I'm aware, there is no serious medical researcher advancing the hypothesis that stage 4 cancer or type 1 diabetes should or can be treated via placebos.