Just what I thought about placebos
 

Article says pretty much all alternative medicines get their benefits from the placebo affect:

Experts: Placebo power behind many natural cures

I have been a firm believer in the minds ability to overcome pain. For years my Dr. has been telling me I need to have my knee fixed, so that I can live a productive life. She can't understand how I can stand on concrete for 10-12 hours a day (I'm a mechanic) with a destroyed meniscus. I keep telling her that it isn't that bad. I did have to use some pain killers when I dislocated my neck and pack, but only for a week or so. I threw most of that prescription away.
The mind is an amazing thing, to bad we don't use more of it.

The mind is indeed, a powerful part of human wellness.

I do have a question regarding the study, however...

Who supplied the 2.5 Billion dollars that proves alternative medicine is a placebo? I'm always curious about where the money comes from in any study.

angela

I believe that any medicine can work if you believe.
Many holistic medicines are very effective.
Drug companies spend billions searching the world over for natural remedies that they can synthesize into pills for the masses. They then spend billions on studies to "prove" that the home remedies don't work.

I have used Willow bark for headaches when I have been in the woods. This is an old woodsman remedy. Guess what, Aspirin is derived from the Willow's chemical make up.

its all in your head...

1) That's not exactly what they said...they didn't define, they didn't give any science, and they listed a few cursory cases where some people made sweeping statements like "placebos saved me!". It was a fluff piece.

2) I posted this a few weeks ago:
Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/496113-increased-interest-placebos.html

News reports rarely do a good job of explicating scientific studies.

the terminally interested may want to try reading this:
Benedetti, F. 2008. Mechanisms of placebo and placebo-related effects across diseases and treatments. Ann. Rev. Pharmacology and Toxicology 48:33-60.




BTW - Placebo power is also behind many hot rod mods that give you fantastic hp.

It is a proven fact that red wheels are faster on a white Carrera.

But I will remind you that aspirin was first found in the bark of a tree, and digitalis was derived from a rain forest plant. Industry is often quick to dismiss the competition, while looking for ways to patent and produce what used to be commonplace and natural.

OTOH, there is a huge market out there in treating people who aren't really sick at all. Those people need a good placebo.

I thought I heard, or read that digitalis came from/was Foxglove, a common plant in Northern Idaho?

Asprin is from willow, digitalis from foxglove.
There are probably quite a few synthesized medicines based off of folk remedies from natural sources. That's why the destruction of the Amazon(which contains the most biodiversity in the world) is a bad thing.

I've heard that very low levels of arsenic(apple seeds) and nicotine destoys the weaker cancer cells.
Doc's are even going back to using leaches as a blood thinner during sugery(George Washington died from overapplication) and maggots to eat dead gangernous cells.

As for accupunture:
For my back/hip/knee injury I tried Cox2 inhibitors, TENS, chiropracty, and accupuncture.
The first accupuncturist I don't want to discuss, but the second finally got the circulation and sensation(pain) back to the extremeties.


I also had a session with an amazing elderly accupunturist in Japan. He was a doc during the second world war but had the skin tone skin of a freaking teenager. The energy standing next was like a linebacker after a winning drive, it literally glowed. In two minutes flat he identified all the problem areas I was having without discussion.

He explained how to identify an injured/weak area:
1. The skin surface will be warmer and possibly swollen.
2. The skin will stick to the muscles underneath. This applies to everywhere on the body. You won't be able to pinch a section and pull it away or roll it easily. It will be rock hard.
3. The skin will accept penetration by a thin needle. To demonstrate, he showed how the same needle would just bounce or bend on the other side.

That is not what that article said.

If it is not well understood how a therapy works, it does not automatically mean it is due to placebo effect.

One of the most startling improvements on a wound I have ever seen was on a person with rather poor hygene. Had maggots in the wound that gobbled up all the dead tissue. Leeches have that groovy anti-coagulant. A lot of the homeopathic meds have anti-inflammatory effect. Drinking cherry juice helps with acute gout. I could go on.