The Effectiveness of the Placebo
In Lawrence LeShan’s book, Alternate Realities: The Search for the Full Human Being, he says, “A reality is real to you when you act in terms of it… It is a valid reality when, using it, you can accomplish the goals acceptable to it.” The effects of internal thoughts as a valid reality are often most evident with miraculous cases of healing attributed to the placebo effect or suggestions given during hypnosis.
The word placebo is Latin for “I shall please.” Often called a sugar pill, its pharmaceutical effects are considered innocuous. The power of the placebo is found in the belief system of the one receiving it. In blind studies which test the effectiveness of a new medication, doctor’s often administer the actual medication to one half of the group under study and administer a placebo to the other half, often called the control group. While these types of studies have been considered reliable for decades, in 2000 researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Nordic Cochrane Center in Denmark added a new twist to the process. They administered drugs to part of the group, placebos to another part of the group and only monitored the actual control group. Of those receiving the placebo, about 35% were cured. This has been the statistical norm since the first studies in the mid 1950s. What was significant about this new test was that the same percentage of the control group was also cured. Recall that the control group received no medication and no placebo. Their progress was only monitored. However, that same study did find that those receiving the placebo reported less pain than the control group.
Researchers who have specifically studied the placebo effect have often run into difficulty when properly assessing their statistics. The problem is that the effect has everything to do with the subjective and personally unique attitude and belief system of the patient. In some cases, a patient who exhibits no confidence in the treatment they are receiving will manifest a negative physical reaction to the placebo. In effect, they show signs of side-effects to an inert substance. This is called the nocebo effect.
In the last few decades, research conducted on new trial medications are most often conducted as a double-blind study. This means that neither the doctor nor the patient know if they are receiving the actual medication or the placebo. The reason for this condition is that researchers found that often times the doctor’s attitude toward the medication being administered affected the patient’s attitude toward the treatment. In his book, The Holographic Universe, author Michael Talbot cites a story told by placebo specialist Dr. David Sobel, of a doctor treating his asthma patient with a new trial drug. He told the patient that this drug was particularly potent and would clear up the breathing problems. Within minutes of administration, the patient’s condition improved dramatically. Later, when the patient suffered another attack, the doctor administered a placebo however, the patient’s condition did not change. This result served as evidence to the doctor that the new drug was indeed quite effective. To his amazement he later received a letter from the drug’s manufacturer stating that they had shipped out the placebo instead of the actual medication. So, the patient had never truly received the new drug. He had only been exposed to the doctor’s enthusiasm. This type of scenario led James McCormick to state, “The physician’s belief in the treatment and the patient’s faith in the physician exert a mutually reinforcing effect; the result is a powerful remedy that is almost guaranteed to produce an improvement and sometimes a cure.”
While some of the research concerning the placebo effect credits the results of this treatment to the body’s incredible ability to heal itself, most researchers attribute the improved condition of the patients and even their complete healing to psychological effects brought to bear by the patient’s own beliefs.
In an effort to show just how much control the mind has over the condition of the body, Talbot cites the unusual medical conditions of folks who have multiple personality disorders. In one such case, all but one of the sub-personalities, or alters, of a certain patient immediately broke out in an allergic rash when exposed to orange juice. The non-allergic personality could drink all the orange juice he wanted with no side-effect whatsoever. He also referred to case studies which showed that drug dosage was especially problematic among adult multiples who had children as alters. If they were given an adult dosage of a medication, they could immediately begin to suffer an overdose reaction when a child personality took over.
One of the most amazing facts Talbot points out in his comments about multiples is that they are difficult to anesthetize. He states, “There are accounts of multiples waking up on the operating table after one of their non-anesthetizable sub-personalities has taken over.” What makes this an amazing feat is that it brings into question the function of the brain as being the sole source of the mind. If the brain rules the body and the patient’s brain is chemically rendered unconscious, how could they switch to a personality that is completely awake?
Talbot also cites that some research has been conducted showing that multiples exhibit different brainwave patterns from one another. This evidence is highly controversial, mainly because it brings so many metaphysical questions to the forefront. Do the auric fields and thought-forms surrounding a person play a significant role in how the body functions? Where exactly is the mind located and what is the source of consciousness? These are just some of the questions researchers of many disciplines are trying to figure out.
