OK. My excuse for posting links instead of writing my own stuff is that my tooth is still bad.
An interesting subject the placebo effect , and the power of our mind.
My son tipped me to this article in The Independent, about the placebo effect .
Antidepressants : Spot the Difference
Makes me wonder if my distrust of doctors and drugs is holding me back .
"Bizarrely, passivity is the key to a strong placebo response. Put yourself in the hand of a powerful individual and trust them to do you good. Small wonder that witch doctors have wielded such therapeutic power. "The less involved you are in actively thinking your way through a process, the more likely they are to have a good response," says Dr Kradin. "If one gets very active in controlling the disease, in my experience, it can have negative effects. It's exactly what healing used to be like in the past. The faith that people had in their physician was a critical part of their healing."
Here's the book . (Not cheap)
Another very good, although I found it a bit nerdy; article on the same subject .
How sad that doctors have never exploited the power of faith.
The Placebo effect
And the more it costs the more you believe in it . When I was at the pharmacy getting antibiotics, the woman ahead of me was very upset.The pharmacist said she had to get the generic brand of the drug she needed because her drug plan wouldn't cover it otherwise. She insisted that only the name brand one worked and left in a huff.
I have to admit I always buy Advil , even though I know the store brand Ibuprofen, is the same.
Now if I could just find a doctor I really, truly, trust. Maybe this guy I will see in June will be the one.
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6 comments:
Hi,
I have an MS Blogger Project underway over at my place. Please visit MS Awareness, Blogging Friends, and a little Link Love join in.
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Carole,
You may be interested to hear about a new, unique and inclusive Global Multiple Sclerosis Community providing not only up to date MS News and Stories, but a place where those affected by Multiple Sclerosis can communicate with others affected by the disease, and the wider public, by means of Online Blogs, Discussion Forums and Net-based social interaction, which the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre launched yesterday in collaboration with cre8Buzz.
Why not come and have a look, there are already some established MS bloggers signed up, and maybe join in, it is agreat way to promote your blogs etc.
http://www.cre8buzz.com/multiple_sclerosis
squiffs ;O)
Hi! to Lisa And Squiffy . I have time today to check out both of these projects. They sound interesting.
I'll be happy to comment on my blog about them later
good post. Thoughts are very powerful. I read everything I could find online and joined in every forum when I was first diagnosed. The information was necessary to sort through,but I found that the more I surrounded my life with talk and articles and chats about MS, the more concentrated my energies were on THE PROBLEM. I attempt to limit my time and energies when it come to thinking about and dealing with my MS.I do blog about MS, but I try to make it be more integrated into my life, not it be my life.
Hi again Carole ;)
The placebo effect and MS is a very curious thing....here is a paste from the MS Society (US). This placebo effect wrt MS is part of the decision I made regarding not to take any MS meds and like Bubbie I try not to give MS too much airtime in my head:
"Amazingly enough, placebos have a record of success in clinical trials, including those in MS. Placebos actually work better than doing nothing at all. In other words, simply by swallowing a dummy pill or taking a dummy injection some people will do better for a time.
In a number of studies, improvement in the placebo group—which is called the “placebo effect”—has been in the 30% to 40% range, and there have been a few trials in which a placebo group reported 70% effectiveness."
Hi! Orla and Thanks for the link regarding that article on the placebo effect.The connection of the nervous system and immune system; that they work together, so interesting. Shows that a holistic approach to treating any illness/condition is sensible. That drug treatment must take this into account. The body works as a whole.
That article has now led me to the Rocky Mountain MS Center , which I have bookmarked for future reference.
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