Placebo: Mind Over Matter in Modern MedicineCan we really cure ourselves of disease by the power of thought alone? Faith healers and alternative therapists are convinced that we can, but what does science say? Contrary to public perception, orthodox medical opinion is remarkably confident about the healing powers of the mind. For the past fifty years, doctors have been taught that placebos such as sugar pills and water injections can relieve virtually any kind of medical condition. Yet placebos only work if you believe they work, so the medical confidence in the power of the placebo effect has provided scientific legitimacy to popular claims about the healing power of the mind. In this intriguing exploration, Dylan Evans exposes the flaws in the scientific research into the placebo effect and reveals the limits of what can and cannot be cured by thought alone. Drawing on new ideas in immunology and evolutionary biology, Evans proposes a new theory about how placebos work, and asks some searching questions about our concepts of health and disease |
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Contents
What can Placebos Really do? | 25 |
The Acute Phase Response | 44 |
The Belief Effect | 70 |
Why? The Evolutionary Question | 96 |
Nocebo Beyond Good and Bad | 119 |
The Alternatives | 141 |
Psychotherapy the Purest Placebo? | 164 |
The Witch Doctors Dilemma | 181 |
Conclusion | 199 |
| 216 | |
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Common terms and phrases
acquired activity acute phase response allow already alternative alternative medicine anxiety applied argued associated become Beecher behaviour belief benefits better blood body brain cancer caused cells cent century Chapter claims clinical trials common compared complex course cure depression designed disease doctors drug evidence evolved example experience experimental explain fact feel fever forms give given hand healing heart human idea immune conditioning immune system important improvement infection involved kind known least less levels look means mechanisms medicine methods mind natural objective operation pain particular patients perhaps pill placebo effect placebo response possible powerful practice problem produce psychotherapy pure question reason receiving reduce reported result scientific seems shown simply statistical studies sugar pill suggests suppressing sure symptoms term theory therapy thing treated treatment trigger turned various volunteers whole
References to this book
Trick Or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine Simon Singh,Edzard Ernst No preview available - 2008 |
Bibliographic information
| Title | Placebo: Mind Over Matter in Modern Medicine |
| Author | Dylan Evans |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2004 |
| ISBN | 0195220544, 9780195220544 |
| Length | 224 pages |
| Subjects | › Medical / Healing Medical / Internal Medicine |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |