It is known in the mental heath field that placebo has a therapeutic effect. I have seen figures up to 30% benefiting substantially from placebo.
And what about belief in the healthing hand of God as a placebo? It can only do good healthwise.
Do you want a placebo drug from God?
2007-08-16 09:18:40 · 8 answers · asked by mic 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
The placebo effect does not change reality, only it changes the persons reported condition. The placebo effect has never shrunk a tumor for example, but it has lessened a headache.
2007-08-16 09:25:08 · answer #1 · answered by bluecuriosity 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If I need drugs I want drugs, but don't underestimate the power of the placebo. Some of the classic studies involve WW II battlefield injuries. Placebo worked as much as 30% of the time then, too, and it's hard to argue that a man who's just had his leg blown off by an artillery shell doesn't have real pain.
Every study done on pediatric cold medicines shows that they're ineffective, but what mother doesn't give drugs (placebos with side effects and risks) to her sick child?
Faith and prayer do work. There are studies on both sides, but the greater number seem to show a positive effect.
I treat patients aggressively (with real drugs) routinely though I know it's often futile. I'm a great believer in scientific, evidence-based medicine, but there are things that I can't explain scientifically, and I'm more than willing to put those in the category of divine intervention.
2007-08-16 10:24:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Not only do we use placebos every day, we often use placebos that only make us (the physicians) feel better. Anyone who has prescribed an antibiotic for a cold and a sore throat that is probably viral has administered a placebo not only to the patient but also to himself. Every surgeon who has sprayed fibrin glue on the surface of a resected liver is administering a rather expensive placebo to himself without doing the patient any good.
I estimate that about 90% of modern medicine consists of placebos. What would we do without them?
2007-08-19 07:57:57 · answer #3 · answered by Vinay K 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rita, they believe that those people fared worse because knowing that people were praying for them made them believe they were dying. Placebos are where the body follows the mind. You have to believe in a positive outcome for a placebo to work. If you believe you are going to die, the only placebo effect is going to be a negative one.
On the other hand, those who believe that God will save them have been found to do better.
2007-08-16 14:18:15 · answer #4 · answered by Troy 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Placebo effects are observed, whether or not you believe in it. God is a placebo and even snake oil is a placebo.
2007-08-16 15:35:55 · answer #5 · answered by kenneth h 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No, I don't want a placebo drug from God.
A revent study has shown that patients in a critical care setting (recovering from heart surgery, if my memory serves) actually fared more poorly if they knew they were being prayed for.
2007-08-16 09:26:29 · answer #6 · answered by rita_alabama 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Placebo drugs are a tool used in research, not (knowingly) in real-life medicine. The drugs I use will work whether you believe in them or not!
2007-08-16 10:45:59 · answer #7 · answered by Pangolin 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Right, but be careful, there is also a "nocebo" effect by which patients can aggravate or entirely create conditions . . . for example, if you think God's helping hand is punishing you.
2007-08-16 12:23:38 · answer #8 · answered by supastremph 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋