4 ms·

I'd imagine placebos are getting more effective due to more people having purely headspace/mindset (or even imaginative) illnesses/causes due to stress factors.

I'd imagine placebos are getting more effective due to more people having purely headspace/mindset (or even imaginative) illnesses/causes due to stress factors. The more it's in your head, the more likely you can cure it with another imaginative treatment... As long as you believe in it. It's the only reasonable explanation. Aside from that, the power of belief can also be a reasonably powerful treatment with a positive response on the body/mind.

0x12 15y ago
Not sure why you got downvoted, it's not my cup of tea but it is as good an explanation as any other until the cause is known.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- powertower 15y ago
  > Not sure why you got downvoted... Depressed people tend to discount all explanations that start with "it's only in your head." Right or wrong. I'm just pointing it out.
- tshtf 15y ago
  I downvoted the parent post because before the post was edited, the OP stated he didn't even read the article. If you come here to comment on an article, you should at least try to read it.
- jambo 15y ago
  The poster edited their comment. It originally started something like "tl;dr no really I didn't read the article" and proceeded with the speculation (and hubris that it's the "only reasonable explanation") that remains at the time of this writing. I downmodded the comment because it's the type of quick, non-substantial response that actually detracts from conversation among those who took the time to read the article and want a real discussion.
AndrewMoffat 15y ago
> I'd imagine placebos are getting more effective due to more people having purely headspace/mindset (or even imaginative) illnesses/causes due to stress factors Here's a list of medical conditions studied by placebo treatements: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo#List_of_medical_conditions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo#List_of_medical_conditi... Many of them had significant positive results for the placebo. You could argue that many of those ailments could be due to mental/stress issues, and that it makes sense that calming the mind and believing in a treatment would work, but for some of them (Parkinson's, Herpes, food allergy), it's pretty amazing at how individuals are affected. Maybe we're under-crediting the brain's ability to control the body.
- klenwell 15y ago
  I'm reading Robert Sapolsky's Why Don't Zebras Get Ulcers right now (very interesting on subject of stress) and given what I've read, I would not be greatly shocked to learn that Parkinson's, herpes, or food allergies are affected by stress and the remediation of it. It's impressive how integral stress hormones are to metabolism and disease. You wouldn't expect the psychogenic effects of a placebo to cure these diseases, but it makes sense that a placebo, or some factor tied to them that helps to lessen stress, could alleviate the intensity of outbreaks or symptoms.
j79 15y ago
I agree. WebMD has probably been a boom for drug companies as hypochondriacs (and wannabe hypochondriacs) research new ways for drug companies to take their money. I've met sane people who are positive they've got the latest bug or some rare disease. The commercials you see on TV probably doesn't help too much either.
- sxtxixtxcxh 15y ago
  > wannabe hypochondriacs so meta...
- Hyena 15y ago
  My biggest problem with WebMD and other sites like it is that they often give me the following kind of result using their diagnoser: "it's flu, allergies, or a rare and deadly cancer, see a doctor".
driverdan 15y ago
"Aside from that, the power of belief can also be a reasonably powerful treatment with a positive response on the body/mind." No it can't. Your mind cannot heal anything. You can change your perception of symptoms but not heal. This is how placebo works. It only changes perception. I strongly recommend listing to episode 5 of Mark Crislip's QuackCast podcast: http://www.pusware.com/quackcast/quackcast5.mp3 http://www.pusware.com/quackcast/quackcast5.mp3 It covers placebo very well including info about studies done on it.
- azulum 15y ago
  if by "your mind cannot heal anything" means "everything dies eventually" then i agree wholeheartedly. but that's probably not what you meant. considering that many of a maladies today stem from chemical imbalances controlled by the brain, or by the second brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-... your argument seems over the top. in fact, since it's hard to know what you know and impossible to know what you do not, how can any thinking being ever say anything cannot do anything. have you surveyed the depths of every human mind, animal mind, extraterrestrial mind to achieve such certainty? if so, what am i thinking right now (you should probably be able to guess because i'm lobbing it right down the middle). the more one learns, the less one knows. of this, i am less certain every day.
- CamperBob 15y ago
  Your mind cannot heal anything. As some of the other posts have pointed out, the many real, observable actions of stress-response hormones complicate this statement considerably.

0x12 15y ago

Not sure why you got downvoted, it's not my cup of tea but it is as good an explanation as any other until the cause is known.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
powertower 15y ago
> Not sure why you got downvoted... Depressed people tend to discount all explanations that start with "it's only in your head." Right or wrong. I'm just pointing it out.
tshtf 15y ago
I downvoted the parent post because before the post was edited, the OP stated he didn't even read the article. If you come here to comment on an article, you should at least try to read it.
jambo 15y ago
The poster edited their comment. It originally started something like "tl;dr no really I didn't read the article" and proceeded with the speculation (and hubris that it's the "only reasonable explanation") that remains at the time of this writing. I downmodded the comment because it's the type of quick, non-substantial response that actually detracts from conversation among those who took the time to read the article and want a real discussion.

AndrewMoffat 15y ago

> I'd imagine placebos are getting more effective due to more people having purely headspace/mindset (or even imaginative) illnesses/causes due to stress factors Here's a list of medical conditions studied by placebo treatements: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo#List_of_medical_conditions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo#List_of_medical_conditi... Many of them had significant positive results for the placebo. You could argue that many of those ailments could be due to mental/stress issues, and that it makes sense that calming the mind and believing in a treatment would work, but for some of them (Parkinson's, Herpes, food allergy), it's pretty amazing at how individuals are affected. Maybe we're under-crediting the brain's ability to control the body.

klenwell 15y ago
I'm reading Robert Sapolsky's Why Don't Zebras Get Ulcers right now (very interesting on subject of stress) and given what I've read, I would not be greatly shocked to learn that Parkinson's, herpes, or food allergies are affected by stress and the remediation of it. It's impressive how integral stress hormones are to metabolism and disease. You wouldn't expect the psychogenic effects of a placebo to cure these diseases, but it makes sense that a placebo, or some factor tied to them that helps to lessen stress, could alleviate the intensity of outbreaks or symptoms.

j79 15y ago

I agree. WebMD has probably been a boom for drug companies as hypochondriacs (and wannabe hypochondriacs) research new ways for drug companies to take their money. I've met sane people who are positive they've got the latest bug or some rare disease. The commercials you see on TV probably doesn't help too much either.

sxtxixtxcxh 15y ago
> wannabe hypochondriacs so meta...
Hyena 15y ago
My biggest problem with WebMD and other sites like it is that they often give me the following kind of result using their diagnoser: "it's flu, allergies, or a rare and deadly cancer, see a doctor".

driverdan 15y ago

"Aside from that, the power of belief can also be a reasonably powerful treatment with a positive response on the body/mind." No it can't. Your mind cannot heal anything. You can change your perception of symptoms but not heal. This is how placebo works. It only changes perception. I strongly recommend listing to episode 5 of Mark Crislip's QuackCast podcast: http://www.pusware.com/quackcast/quackcast5.mp3 http://www.pusware.com/quackcast/quackcast5.mp3 It covers placebo very well including info about studies done on it.

azulum 15y ago
if by "your mind cannot heal anything" means "everything dies eventually" then i agree wholeheartedly. but that's probably not what you meant. considering that many of a maladies today stem from chemical imbalances controlled by the brain, or by the second brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-... your argument seems over the top. in fact, since it's hard to know what you know and impossible to know what you do not, how can any thinking being ever say anything cannot do anything. have you surveyed the depths of every human mind, animal mind, extraterrestrial mind to achieve such certainty? if so, what am i thinking right now (you should probably be able to guess because i'm lobbing it right down the middle). the more one learns, the less one knows. of this, i am less certain every day.
CamperBob 15y ago
Your mind cannot heal anything. As some of the other posts have pointed out, the many real, observable actions of stress-response hormones complicate this statement considerably.