How to
Use the Placebo Effect to Your Advantage
by Barbara D. Allan
Author of Conquering Arthritis
Doctors
used to think that the placebo effect was psychological.
Now scientists have direct evidence that the placebo effect
is actually physical. In other words, the expectation
that a pill or procedure will produce a medical benefit
can trigger the same neurological pathways of healing
as “real” medication. What
Research Has Found
At the University of Michigan, scientists injected the
jaws of healthy young men with salt water to cause painful
pressure while PET scans measured the impact in their
brains. During one scan, the men were told they were
getting a pain reliever, but what they actually received
was a placebo. In response, their brains immediately
released more endorphin—chemicals that act as
natural painkillers by blocking the transmission of
pain signals between nerve cells. The men felt better.
According to an Associated Press report, one of the
researchers who carried out this study, Christian Stohler,
stated, “Our brain really is on drugs when we
get a placebo.” Results with some especially strong
placebo responders suggest “many brains can actually
stimulate that (pain-relief) system more (than drugs
do.)”
How is that for demonstrating the power of positive
expectations?
Another study was done in Italy. Researcher F. Benedetti
gave Parkinson’s patients a placebo and measured
the electrical activity of individual nerve cells in
the brain. Those neurons quieted down by about 40 percent,
a change that correlated with a reduction in muscle
rigidity and with the patients being able to move more
easily.
Once again, strong and measurable physical improvements
were brought about by the power of expectation alone.
How to Use the Placebo Effect
to Your Own Advantage
What you believe shapes your world. Positive expectations
alone have the power to create positive outcomes in
your body.
- Make sure you the treatments and medications you
use are ones that you believe in. If you truly expect
that they will help, not only will you get the inherent
benefits of the treatment, you will get the added
benefit of the placebo effect.
- Make sure your practitioner believes in a positive
outcome for you and takes the time to spell out in
detail the exact nature of all positive changes you
are likely to be experiencing. This will reinforce
your own positive expectations.
- Avoid people who have negative expectations for
your healing, especially doctors. If your doctors
are telling you they can’t help you, find new
ones. If you are told there is 'no cure' for your
condition, get another opinion. Look around until
you find someone with a good track record of helping
people with arthritis and who has a strong expectation
that the treatments he or she offers can help you.
- If you yourself have negative expectations, do
whatever you can to replace them with positive ones.
The truth is you have the power to heal yourself.
Educating yourself on how others in your situation
have already done this and noticing what thoughts
and actions make you feel better are two excellent
ways to shift your focus from negative to positive
expectations.
- Even if you currently have no conscious idea of
how to tap into your inherent healing power, start
imagining exactly what it would look, sound, and feel
like for you to heal. Describe in as much detail as
you can exactly what you are doing, saying, and feeling
as you experience the benefits of the healing process.
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