by Uwe Heiss | Feb 3, 2016 | Honest Placebo Pills |
When used in an ethical and safe way, placebos are a great tool to help with symptom relief. Here is the section from my book on that. Btw, if you would like to read this blog as an ebook, including all future posts, then have a look at “The Placebo Cure”...
by Uwe Heiss | Jan 28, 2016 | Nocebo Effect, Placebo Strength, The Cure - Mind over Body |
NPR has a great interview with Jo Marchant on her new book “The Cure”. Excellent content. Now you could’ve gotten that also from my book Placebo 3.o. Published here. Adding the next section: Strength of the Placebo Effect A meta-analysis of...
by Uwe Heiss | Jan 24, 2016 | How does the Placebo Effect work?, Medication Adherence and Placebo, Placebo Experience |
Experience works. “Taking a pill” is a central healing ritual in modern society. Most of us have gone through this experience many times throughout their lives. Our conscious and subconscious mind has a deep understanding of the curative potential of this ritual. We...
by Uwe Heiss | Jan 14, 2016 | How does the Placebo Effect work?, Placebo Effect |
Meaning works. Daniel Moerman, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, emphasizes the importance of meaning in soliciting a placebo response. He actually prefers to use the term ‘Meaning Response’. According to Moerman, people respond to the...
by Uwe Heiss | Dec 14, 2015 | Honest Placebo Pills |
Focus matters. The potential for a placebo response varies widely depending on the medical condition placebo administration is applied to. It appears that conditions involving bothersome (non-life threatening) symptoms such as mild depression, mild anxiety, chronic...
by Uwe Heiss | Nov 19, 2015 | Honest Placebo Pills, Placebo Effect |
Doctors trust placebos while facing a dilemma. It appears that physicians intuitively know that placebos work. At least they act in a way that is consistent with this belief. A national survey of medical internists and rheumatology specialists in the US (Tilburt,...
by Uwe Heiss | Nov 4, 2015 | Honest Placebo Pills, Placebo Use |
For a placebo to produce the best effect it needs to be integrated into an experience that has meaning, creates expectations and reaches the subconscious mind and body. More about that in the chapter “How Placebos Work”. In modern medicine meaning usually based on a...
by Uwe Heiss | Nov 4, 2015 | Honest Placebo Pills, Placebo Examples, Placebo Terminology |
Placebo Use Today Physicians regularly prescribe pharmaceuticals without knowing exactly how they work. There is not enough time to read up on the literature and for most drugs only the major affected bio-molecular pathways are understood. In any case, a detailed...
by Uwe Heiss | Nov 4, 2015 | Honest Placebo Pills, Placebo Use |
Limitations of Science in Medicine The insight gained from scientific experiments is limited by the degree to which all factors affect the results of a study can be controlled. When human subjects, researchers, and sponsors are involved things get complicated. Even...
by Uwe Heiss | Sep 26, 2015 | Honest Placebo Pills |
Most ancient drugs contained no active ingredients that would benefit the patient. There are some exceptions, such as poppy milk given for pain management. At the same time ancient drugs often did contain active ingredients that could harm the patient. For example,...