“No placebo effect going on there.” Much attention has been given to the placebo effect. The placebo effect shows that what we believe – what we think – matters when it comes to health. Some wonder if the positive effects on health of spirituality are simply a variant of the placebo effect. Wendy Margolese, Health Blogger
Roman Forum (picture courtesy of Flickr.com user Mshai)
I remember walking around the city of Rome many years ago and seeing the impressive stone ruins – the remains of government buildings in the old Roman Forum – and thinking that they really were advanced for that time period. The Roman Forum “has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history.”¹
In my previous post I looked at an almost lighthearted but curious case of how extensive knowledge of anatomy commonplace in Italy seems to result in a winter disease unique to them. This gives an example of how thought can have an impact on health.
But in all seriousness, Italy is very much at the forefront of some significant research on a mind-body connection. For example, a search on “placebo AND research AND italy” (in the search bar) at pubmed.gov (which stores abstracts containing the results of clinical studies) yields 1,901 results.
Placebos by Akacio S. ( /photographyk )
The placebo effect is usually considered to be the curative effective resulting from patients equipping a sugar pill with their belief in its ability to help. But it turns out that the placebo effect can result from the thought of the caregiver as well.
“Belief in or expectation of a good outcome can have formidable restorative power, whether the positive expectations are on the part of the patient, the doctor or caregiver, or both…” says Herbert Benson, M.D. writing (with Marg Stark) about what he calls “remembered wellness” in his book “Timeless Healing – The Power and Biology of Belief”.