The Powerful Placebo

The Powerful Placebo

Author: Arthur K. Shapiro

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2000-10-17

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0801866758

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"The Powerful Placebo" discusses the placebo effect over the centuries, reminding the reader how complex the issue is, from the very definition of a placebo and the success of dubious or fraudulent remedies to the modern worship of placebos as controls in clinical trials. The authors assert that "until recently, the history of medical treatment was essentially the history of placebo effect".


Book Synopsis The Powerful Placebo by : Arthur K. Shapiro

Download or read book The Powerful Placebo written by Arthur K. Shapiro and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2000-10-17 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Powerful Placebo" discusses the placebo effect over the centuries, reminding the reader how complex the issue is, from the very definition of a placebo and the success of dubious or fraudulent remedies to the modern worship of placebos as controls in clinical trials. The authors assert that "until recently, the history of medical treatment was essentially the history of placebo effect".


The Powerful Placebo

The Powerful Placebo

Author: Arthur K. Shapiro

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2000-10-17

Total Pages: 443

ISBN-13: 1421401347

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Ranging from antiquity to modern times, this history of the placebo effect is especially timely in light of renewed interest in the mind-body relationship. Until this century, most medications prescribed by physicians were pharmacologically inert, if not harmful. That is, physicians were prescribing placebos or worse without knowing it. In a sense, then, the history of medical treatment until relatively recently is the history of the placebo effect. Based on the authors' lifelong study and clinical research, this is a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the placebo effect. The authors begin by surveying the use of placebos from antiquity to modern times. They also examine the development, use, and validity of the double-blind, controlled clinical trial. And they present their own study of the placebo effect in more than 1000 patients. Demonstrating both the magnitude and the limitations of the placebo effect, the book helps to clarify knotty issues ranging from the evaluation of therapies to the ethics of conducting controlled studies in which patients are deliberately given placebos. With the renewed interest in the mind-body relationship as well as in the role of placebos in new and alternative medical procedures and therapies, the findings of this book are especially timely.


Book Synopsis The Powerful Placebo by : Arthur K. Shapiro

Download or read book The Powerful Placebo written by Arthur K. Shapiro and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2000-10-17 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ranging from antiquity to modern times, this history of the placebo effect is especially timely in light of renewed interest in the mind-body relationship. Until this century, most medications prescribed by physicians were pharmacologically inert, if not harmful. That is, physicians were prescribing placebos or worse without knowing it. In a sense, then, the history of medical treatment until relatively recently is the history of the placebo effect. Based on the authors' lifelong study and clinical research, this is a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the placebo effect. The authors begin by surveying the use of placebos from antiquity to modern times. They also examine the development, use, and validity of the double-blind, controlled clinical trial. And they present their own study of the placebo effect in more than 1000 patients. Demonstrating both the magnitude and the limitations of the placebo effect, the book helps to clarify knotty issues ranging from the evaluation of therapies to the ethics of conducting controlled studies in which patients are deliberately given placebos. With the renewed interest in the mind-body relationship as well as in the role of placebos in new and alternative medical procedures and therapies, the findings of this book are especially timely.


Talking Cures and Placebo Effects

Talking Cures and Placebo Effects

Author: David A. Jopling

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2008-05-29

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0199239509

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Psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have had to defend themselves from a barrage of criticisms throughout their history. In this book David Jopling argues that the changes achieved through therapy are really just functions of placebos that rally the mind's native healing powers. It is a bold new work that delivers yet another blow to Freud and his followers.


Book Synopsis Talking Cures and Placebo Effects by : David A. Jopling

Download or read book Talking Cures and Placebo Effects written by David A. Jopling and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008-05-29 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have had to defend themselves from a barrage of criticisms throughout their history. In this book David Jopling argues that the changes achieved through therapy are really just functions of placebos that rally the mind's native healing powers. It is a bold new work that delivers yet another blow to Freud and his followers.


Meaning, Medicine, and the "placebo Effect"

Meaning, Medicine, and the

Author: Daniel E. Moerman

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Meaning, Medicine, and the "placebo Effect" by : Daniel E. Moerman

Download or read book Meaning, Medicine, and the "placebo Effect" written by Daniel E. Moerman and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Antidepressant Era

The Antidepressant Era

Author: David Healy

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 9780674039582

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In this work Healy chronicles the history of psychopharmacology, from the discovery of chlorpromazine in 1951, to current battles over whether powerful chemical compounds should replace psychotherapy. The marketing of antidepressants is included.


Book Synopsis The Antidepressant Era by : David Healy

Download or read book The Antidepressant Era written by David Healy and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this work Healy chronicles the history of psychopharmacology, from the discovery of chlorpromazine in 1951, to current battles over whether powerful chemical compounds should replace psychotherapy. The marketing of antidepressants is included.


Suggestible You

Suggestible You

Author: Erik Vance

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1426217897

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National Geographic's riveting narrative explores the world of placebos, hypnosis, false memories, and neurology to reveal the groundbreaking science of our suggestible minds. Could the secrets to personal health lie within our own brains? Journalist Erik Vance explores the surprising ways our expectations and beliefs influence our bodily responses to pain, disease, and everyday events. Drawing on centuries of research and interviews with leading experts in the field, Vance takes us on a fascinating adventure from Harvard's research labs to a witch doctor's office in Catemaco, Mexico, to an alternative medicine school near Beijing (often called "China's Hogwarts"). Vance's firsthand dispatches will change the way you think--and feel. Expectations, beliefs, and self-deception can actively change our bodies and minds. Vance builds a case for our "internal pharmacy"--the very real chemical reactions our brains produce when we think we are experiencing pain or healing, actual or perceived. Supporting this idea is centuries of placebo research in a range of forms, from sugar pills to shock waves; studies of alternative medicine techniques heralded and condemned in different parts of the world (think crystals and chakras); and most recently, major advances in brain mapping technology. Thanks to this technology, we're learning how we might leverage our suggestibility (or lack thereof) for personalized medicine, and Vance brings us to the front lines of such study.


Book Synopsis Suggestible You by : Erik Vance

Download or read book Suggestible You written by Erik Vance and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2016 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Geographic's riveting narrative explores the world of placebos, hypnosis, false memories, and neurology to reveal the groundbreaking science of our suggestible minds. Could the secrets to personal health lie within our own brains? Journalist Erik Vance explores the surprising ways our expectations and beliefs influence our bodily responses to pain, disease, and everyday events. Drawing on centuries of research and interviews with leading experts in the field, Vance takes us on a fascinating adventure from Harvard's research labs to a witch doctor's office in Catemaco, Mexico, to an alternative medicine school near Beijing (often called "China's Hogwarts"). Vance's firsthand dispatches will change the way you think--and feel. Expectations, beliefs, and self-deception can actively change our bodies and minds. Vance builds a case for our "internal pharmacy"--the very real chemical reactions our brains produce when we think we are experiencing pain or healing, actual or perceived. Supporting this idea is centuries of placebo research in a range of forms, from sugar pills to shock waves; studies of alternative medicine techniques heralded and condemned in different parts of the world (think crystals and chakras); and most recently, major advances in brain mapping technology. Thanks to this technology, we're learning how we might leverage our suggestibility (or lack thereof) for personalized medicine, and Vance brings us to the front lines of such study.


The Magic Feather Effect

The Magic Feather Effect

Author: Melanie Warner

Publisher: Scribner

Published: 2020-01-14

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1501121502

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The acclaimed author of Pandora’s Lunchbox and former New York Times reporter delivers an “entertaining and highly useful book that gives you the tools to understand how alternative medicine works, so you can confidently make up your own mind” (The Washington Post). We all know someone who has had a seemingly miraculous cure from an alternative form of medicine: a friend whose chronic back pain vanished after sessions with an acupuncturist or chiropractor; a relative with digestive issues who recovered with herbal remedies; a colleague whose autoimmune disorder went into sudden inexplicable remission thanks to an energy healer or healing retreat. The tales are far too common to be complete fabrications, yet too anecdotal and outside the medical mainstream to be taken seriously scientifically. How do we explain them and the growing popularity of alternative medicine more generally? In The Magic Feather Effect, author and journalist Melanie Warner takes us on a vivid, important journey through the world of alternative medicine. Visiting prestigious research clinics and ordinary people’s homes, she investigates the scientific underpinning for the purportedly magical results of these practices and reveals not only the medical power of beliefs and placebo effects, but also the range, limits, and uses of the surprising system of self-healing that resides inside us. Equal parts helpful, illuminating, and compelling, The Magic Feather Effect is a “well-written survey of alternative medicine…fair-minded, thorough, and focused on verifiable scientific research” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Warner’s enlightening, engaging deep dive into the world of alternative medicine and the surprising science that explains why it may work is an essential read.


Book Synopsis The Magic Feather Effect by : Melanie Warner

Download or read book The Magic Feather Effect written by Melanie Warner and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2020-01-14 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed author of Pandora’s Lunchbox and former New York Times reporter delivers an “entertaining and highly useful book that gives you the tools to understand how alternative medicine works, so you can confidently make up your own mind” (The Washington Post). We all know someone who has had a seemingly miraculous cure from an alternative form of medicine: a friend whose chronic back pain vanished after sessions with an acupuncturist or chiropractor; a relative with digestive issues who recovered with herbal remedies; a colleague whose autoimmune disorder went into sudden inexplicable remission thanks to an energy healer or healing retreat. The tales are far too common to be complete fabrications, yet too anecdotal and outside the medical mainstream to be taken seriously scientifically. How do we explain them and the growing popularity of alternative medicine more generally? In The Magic Feather Effect, author and journalist Melanie Warner takes us on a vivid, important journey through the world of alternative medicine. Visiting prestigious research clinics and ordinary people’s homes, she investigates the scientific underpinning for the purportedly magical results of these practices and reveals not only the medical power of beliefs and placebo effects, but also the range, limits, and uses of the surprising system of self-healing that resides inside us. Equal parts helpful, illuminating, and compelling, The Magic Feather Effect is a “well-written survey of alternative medicine…fair-minded, thorough, and focused on verifiable scientific research” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Warner’s enlightening, engaging deep dive into the world of alternative medicine and the surprising science that explains why it may work is an essential read.


The Emperor's New Drugs

The Emperor's New Drugs

Author: Irving Kirsch

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2010-01-26

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0465021042

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Do antidepressants work? Of course -- everyone knows it. Like his colleagues, Irving Kirsch, a researcher and clinical psychologist, for years referred patients to psychiatrists to have their depression treated with drugs before deciding to investigate for himself just how effective the drugs actually were. Over the course of the past fifteen years, however, Kirsch's research -- a thorough analysis of decades of Food and Drug Administration data -- has demonstrated that what everyone knew about antidepressants was wrong. Instead of treating depression with drugs, we've been treating it with suggestion. The Emperor's New Drugs makes an overwhelming case that what had seemed a cornerstone of psychiatric treatment is little more than a faulty consensus. But Kirsch does more than just criticize: he offers a path society can follow so that we stop popping pills and start proper treatment for depression.


Book Synopsis The Emperor's New Drugs by : Irving Kirsch

Download or read book The Emperor's New Drugs written by Irving Kirsch and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2010-01-26 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do antidepressants work? Of course -- everyone knows it. Like his colleagues, Irving Kirsch, a researcher and clinical psychologist, for years referred patients to psychiatrists to have their depression treated with drugs before deciding to investigate for himself just how effective the drugs actually were. Over the course of the past fifteen years, however, Kirsch's research -- a thorough analysis of decades of Food and Drug Administration data -- has demonstrated that what everyone knew about antidepressants was wrong. Instead of treating depression with drugs, we've been treating it with suggestion. The Emperor's New Drugs makes an overwhelming case that what had seemed a cornerstone of psychiatric treatment is little more than a faulty consensus. But Kirsch does more than just criticize: he offers a path society can follow so that we stop popping pills and start proper treatment for depression.


Shadow Medicine

Shadow Medicine

Author: John S. Haller, Jr.

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-07-08

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0231537700

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Can Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) find common ground? A distinguished historian of medicine, John S. Haller Jr., explores the epistemological foundations of EBM and the challenges these conceptual tools present for both conventional and alternative therapies. As he explores a possible reconciliation between their conflicting approaches, Haller maintains a healthy, scientific skepticism yet finds promise in select complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies. Haller elucidates recent research on the placebo effect and shows how a new engagement between EBM and CAM might lead to a more productive medical practice that includes both the objectivity of evidence-based medicine and the subjective truth of the physician-patient relationship. Haller's book tours key topics in the standoff between EBM and CAM: how and why the double blinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) came to be considered the gold standard in modern medicine; the challenge of postmodern medicine as it counters the positivism of evidence-based medicine; and the politics of modern CAM and the rise of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. He conducts an in-depth case study of homeopathy, explaining why it has emerged as a poster-child for CAM, and assesses CAM's popularity despite its poor performance in clinical trials. Haller concludes with hope, showing how new experimental protocols might tease out the evidentiary basis for the placebo effect and establish a foundation for some reconciliation between EBM and CAM.


Book Synopsis Shadow Medicine by : John S. Haller, Jr.

Download or read book Shadow Medicine written by John S. Haller, Jr. and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) find common ground? A distinguished historian of medicine, John S. Haller Jr., explores the epistemological foundations of EBM and the challenges these conceptual tools present for both conventional and alternative therapies. As he explores a possible reconciliation between their conflicting approaches, Haller maintains a healthy, scientific skepticism yet finds promise in select complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies. Haller elucidates recent research on the placebo effect and shows how a new engagement between EBM and CAM might lead to a more productive medical practice that includes both the objectivity of evidence-based medicine and the subjective truth of the physician-patient relationship. Haller's book tours key topics in the standoff between EBM and CAM: how and why the double blinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) came to be considered the gold standard in modern medicine; the challenge of postmodern medicine as it counters the positivism of evidence-based medicine; and the politics of modern CAM and the rise of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. He conducts an in-depth case study of homeopathy, explaining why it has emerged as a poster-child for CAM, and assesses CAM's popularity despite its poor performance in clinical trials. Haller concludes with hope, showing how new experimental protocols might tease out the evidentiary basis for the placebo effect and establish a foundation for some reconciliation between EBM and CAM.


You Are the Placebo

You Are the Placebo

Author: Dr. Joe Dispenza

Publisher: Hay House, Inc

Published: 2015-09-08

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1401944590

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Is it possible to heal by thought alone—without drugs or surgery? The truth is that it happens more often than you might expect. In You Are the Placebo, best-selling author, international speaker, chiropractor, and renowned researcher of epigenetics, quantum physics, & neuroscience, Dr. Joe Dispenza shares numerous documented cases of those who reversed cancer, heart disease, depression, crippling arthritis, and even the tremors of Parkinson’s disease by believing in a placebo. Similarly, Dr. Joe tells of how others have gotten sick and even died the victims of a hex or voodoo curse—or after being misdiagnosed with a fatal illness. Belief can be so strong that pharmaceutical companies use double- and triple-blind randomized studies to try to exclude the power of the mind over the body when evaluating new drugs. “In his paradigm-altering book, You Are the Placebo, Dr. Joe Dispenza catapults us beyond thinking of the placebo effect as an anomaly. Through 12 concise chapters that read like a true-life scientific thriller, Dispenza gives us rock-solid reasons to accept the game-changer of our lives: that the placebo effect is actually us, proving to ourselves the greatest possibilities of healing, miracles, and longevity! I love this book and look forward to a world where the secret of the placebo is the foundation of everyday life.” — Gregg Braden, New York Times best-selling author of Deep Truth and The Divine Matrix Chapters Include: Foreward by Dawson Church, Ph.D. Part I. Is It Possible? A Brief History of the Placebo The Placebo Effect in the Brain The Placebo Effect in the Body How Thoughts Change the Brain and the Body Suggestibility Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceptions The Quantum Mind Three Stories of Personal Transformation Information to Transformation: Proof That You Are the Placebo Part II: Transformation Meditation Preparation Changing Beliefs and Perceptions Meditation Becoming Supernatural Dr. Joe does more than simply explore the history and the physiology of the placebo effect. He asks the question: "Is it possible to teach the principles of the placebo, and without relying on any external substance, produce the same internal changes in a person’s health and ultimately in his or her life?" Then he shares scientific evidence (including color brain scans) of amazing healings from his workshops, in which participants learn his consciousness shifting model of personal transformation, based on practical applications of the so-called placebo effect. The book ends with a "how-to" calming meditation for changing limiting beliefs and mental perceptions that hold us back—the first step in healing. You Are the Placebo combines the latest research in neuroscience, biology, psychology, hypnosis, behavioral conditioning, and quantum physics to demystify the workings of the placebo effect . . . and show how the seemingly impossible can become possible. “I discovered that if I could teach people the scientific model of transformation (bringing in a little quantum physics to help them understand the science of possibility); combine it with the latest information in neuroscience, neuroendocrinology, epigenetics, and psychoneuroimmunology; give them the right kind of instruction; and provide the opportunity to apply that information, then they would experience a transformation... This book is about: empowering you to realize that you have all the biological and neurological machinery to do exactly that. My goal is to demystify these concepts with the new science of the way things really are so that it is within the reach of more people to change their internal states in order to create positive changes in their health and in their external world.” — Dr. Joe Dispenza


Book Synopsis You Are the Placebo by : Dr. Joe Dispenza

Download or read book You Are the Placebo written by Dr. Joe Dispenza and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is it possible to heal by thought alone—without drugs or surgery? The truth is that it happens more often than you might expect. In You Are the Placebo, best-selling author, international speaker, chiropractor, and renowned researcher of epigenetics, quantum physics, & neuroscience, Dr. Joe Dispenza shares numerous documented cases of those who reversed cancer, heart disease, depression, crippling arthritis, and even the tremors of Parkinson’s disease by believing in a placebo. Similarly, Dr. Joe tells of how others have gotten sick and even died the victims of a hex or voodoo curse—or after being misdiagnosed with a fatal illness. Belief can be so strong that pharmaceutical companies use double- and triple-blind randomized studies to try to exclude the power of the mind over the body when evaluating new drugs. “In his paradigm-altering book, You Are the Placebo, Dr. Joe Dispenza catapults us beyond thinking of the placebo effect as an anomaly. Through 12 concise chapters that read like a true-life scientific thriller, Dispenza gives us rock-solid reasons to accept the game-changer of our lives: that the placebo effect is actually us, proving to ourselves the greatest possibilities of healing, miracles, and longevity! I love this book and look forward to a world where the secret of the placebo is the foundation of everyday life.” — Gregg Braden, New York Times best-selling author of Deep Truth and The Divine Matrix Chapters Include: Foreward by Dawson Church, Ph.D. Part I. Is It Possible? A Brief History of the Placebo The Placebo Effect in the Brain The Placebo Effect in the Body How Thoughts Change the Brain and the Body Suggestibility Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceptions The Quantum Mind Three Stories of Personal Transformation Information to Transformation: Proof That You Are the Placebo Part II: Transformation Meditation Preparation Changing Beliefs and Perceptions Meditation Becoming Supernatural Dr. Joe does more than simply explore the history and the physiology of the placebo effect. He asks the question: "Is it possible to teach the principles of the placebo, and without relying on any external substance, produce the same internal changes in a person’s health and ultimately in his or her life?" Then he shares scientific evidence (including color brain scans) of amazing healings from his workshops, in which participants learn his consciousness shifting model of personal transformation, based on practical applications of the so-called placebo effect. The book ends with a "how-to" calming meditation for changing limiting beliefs and mental perceptions that hold us back—the first step in healing. You Are the Placebo combines the latest research in neuroscience, biology, psychology, hypnosis, behavioral conditioning, and quantum physics to demystify the workings of the placebo effect . . . and show how the seemingly impossible can become possible. “I discovered that if I could teach people the scientific model of transformation (bringing in a little quantum physics to help them understand the science of possibility); combine it with the latest information in neuroscience, neuroendocrinology, epigenetics, and psychoneuroimmunology; give them the right kind of instruction; and provide the opportunity to apply that information, then they would experience a transformation... This book is about: empowering you to realize that you have all the biological and neurological machinery to do exactly that. My goal is to demystify these concepts with the new science of the way things really are so that it is within the reach of more people to change their internal states in order to create positive changes in their health and in their external world.” — Dr. Joe Dispenza