It is simply assumed all socialist systems are dangerous to the health of those who live there. Others believe the Europeans have death camp hospitals where doctors decide who lives and dies. The survival of similar myths is the proof that ideas and beliefs can have a mighty and long-lasting effect on people. It is true, and many have expericenced it not once in a life, if your belief in something is really strong and if you make it a part of your life, such a belief often comes true.
The researchers who designed the first clinical trials faced an interesting and inevitable problem… about one-third of participants who have been given an inert substance reported feeling better. The chemically inert substance given to them have absolutely no effect on the human body. This was the placebo effect.. People in all clinical trials, are randomly assigned to one of two groups. One gets the real drug. The other gets the placebo. But there is no way anyone can know which is which. Doctors in white coats gives you encouragement, a smile and the “medicine”. The volunteers then describe how they feel. Physicians are listening carefully, examining, ordering tests where appropriate . And no matter what the researchers have done to eliminate the placebo effect, all they have succeeded in doing is produce a mountain of evidence that people who expect a treatment to work feel better.
It has long been recognized that people who believe strongly enough in the cure will often be cured. So, if you run a practice, a clinic or hospital, you can make a third of your patients feel better if you manage their expectations well. You can prescribe something that will “do the trick”. Even if this something is chemically inert, it will be an effective treatment in at least one-third of cases!.. Continue reading