Besides often questionable benefits, does anybody actually believe some amorphous pill or powder actually contains what the packaging says?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com//2015/02/03/sidebar-whats-in-those-supplements/
I suspect at least some of the "benefits" that users see are placebo effects (which is actually quite powerful).
Placebo is so powerful that studies have shown even if you tell the subject its a placebo they will still get better
Placebo is so powerful that studies have shown even if you tell the subject its a placebo they will still get better
i think that just goes to show that there should be research into the ability of the mind to heal the body.
as for the "herbal" products, those results are somewhat surprising. i'd be interested in seeing what those companies have to say about their tested products. grounds for a class action lawsuit based on fraud?
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer
i think that just goes to show that there should be research into the ability of the mind to heal the body.
Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars on testing and medical trials to prove to regulators that their drug is not a placebo. It is not unheard of for an approved drug to score only slightly above that of a placebo in trails. See this, for example
As to the "mind healing the body", I think we have all heard or known first-hand about people who refused to quit when seriously ill or injured or by sheer force of will beat an illness that should have killed them. While I'm happy to get vaccinated, undergo arthroscopic surgery and be prescribed antibiotics etc I think that like so much else in life, attitude does matter when it comes to staying healthy or recovering from illness and injury.
I read somewhere about studies that found the most common characteristic people with undiagnosable back pain is low job satisfaction.
More along the same lines…
http://www.strengtheory.com/steroids-dosage-and-the-placebo-effect/
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
"Stupid Pills - The Politics of Fraudulent Dietary Supplements"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/opinion/the-politics-of-fraudulent-dietary-supplements.html
One pill makes you larger,
And one pill makes you small,
And the ones they sell at Walmart don't do anything at all;
Go ask Orrin - his pals make them all…
Forum jump:
