Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 615.5
EAN num: 9780060194932
ISBN number: 0060194936
Label: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: June 01, 2000
Publishing house: HarperCollins
Release Date: May 16, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 1246392
Studio: HarperCollins
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Product Description:
From a distinguished physician and medical ethicist, here is the definitive scientific investigation of the mysterious mind-body healing process. Did you know that:You'll heal faster after surgery if you see trees and grass outside your window than if you're looking at a brick wall.After asthmatic children were given vanilla aroma to use with their inhalers, their asthma eventually improved in response to the vanilla alone, even when the inhalers contained no active drug.Some patients who had sham angina surgery performed in a double-blind experiment showed improvements lasting six months or more, which their physicians could not distinguish from the results in patients who had had the real surgery.When people watched a movie showing Mother Teresa taking care of the poor in Calcutta, their bodies secreted extra amounts of salivary immunoglobulin A, a major germ-fighting chemical.When Japanese teenagers, who were allergic to a tree similar to poison ivy, were touched with leaves from a harmless chestnut tree, they developed severe rashes. When touched with the poisonous leaves but told they were chestnut, they had no reaction whatsoever.When a new medical treatment is introduced with much excitement and hope, the very first patients to receive it typically show a seventy percent positive response rate, even in cases where the treatment--on more careful study-is shown to be medically worthless.
The Placebo Response, grounded in comprehensive research, presents a convincing case that we can harness our inner pharmacy for better health and healing.
Amazon.com Review:
Could a tiny sugar pill actually hold the secret to a miracle cure? In his well-researched new book, Dr. Howard Brody, a family practice physician and university professor, brings forward an intriguing, and provocative, premise about the healing effect of placebos, the much-maligned fake cure of popular lore. Brody asserts that while placebos themselves have no medical value, time and again real illnesses and pain have been diminished by their use.
According to Brody, the placebo phenomenon--which he pronounces mysterious and unknowable at its very heart--is when the convergence of healing signals, assigned meaning, and human expectations stimulates the body's inner healing power. The patient's positive mental and emotional reaction to a medical intervention releases what Brody terms the 'inner pharmacy.' In other words, even though the treatment is benign, the body's biochemical pathways are stimulated to induce healing in the same manner actual medicines do. 'Could harboring hope, faith, or expectation be genuinely potent factors in the healing process?' Brody asks, 'I believe they are. In fact, I see them as the heart and soul of the placebo response.'
In this lucid, easy-to-follow book, Brody lays the foundation for his argument by reviewing the history of placebo use as well as the results of several major studies. He takes ample time up front to explore a variety of theories about why placebos work, who responds to them, and the role of the medical provider in the process. The later half of the book is devoted to guiding individuals who wish to release their own internal healing power. One of Brody's primary contentions is that patients are not inert objects in this process: they must take control of their own health before the healing response can be unleashed.
Is the public's rising confidence in the effectiveness of alternative medicine partially a result of the placebo effect? According to Brody, the more personal, caring treatment offered by alternative providers could be more effective in releasing the placebo response in patients who do not respond well to conventional medical approaches. His premise: the tenor of the healing message as well as the carrier of that message are key to stimulating--or shutting down--the inner pharmacy. A provider who does not believe in the patient's ability to heal can inadvertently cause the opposite reaction--the 'nocebo effect.' If a patient expects to get worse, they often do just that.
While Brody's holistic approach, as well as his advocacy of a strong patient-provider partnership, are not new ideas, this wise, compassionate book thoroughly explores yet another angle of the mind's fascinating ability to induce true healing. --Marianne Painter
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
This book is loaded with information about the Placebo
response. This book proves in many ways that a placebo
response does take place in the human mind & body. It's good
info for physicians, patients, psychologists.
You will learn about how even a negative placebo response can
happen, psychoneuroimmunology, getting well by forgiveness, & much more. It's a fascinating subject.
Rated by buyers -
Every young intern wanting to become a good and effective doctor or nurse should read this book. Although the theme of this book is about the latest research and the applications of the Placebo phenomenon in medical healing,any reader of this book will surely sense this reccuring message that the sincere carings, genuine efforts,and empathy communicated by the medical care-giver as a positive message to the patient can actually stimulates the bodies's inner healing power,reinforcing the patient's positive mental response and faith towards the medication/treatment.
Rated by buyers -
This book contains amazing info about placebo, research, and the practice of medicine.
I found it hard to get into his using-the-placebo-effect-for-your-own-health section... and it seemed kind of awkward that the book was divided in half... half-research and discussion, and the other half application...
But it's well worth it for the very first part.
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