The fact that someone believes they are being administered an effective drug can heal them (at least temporarily) from a wide variety of illnesses from depression to hair loss to cancerous growths. Do you think we will be able to harness this effect in the future? What applications do you see for this effect?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
its true that the placebo is very important in 'fooling' the mind into recovery however it may prove to be very hard for an individual to harness the effect since it would take tremendous mind and will power, we would have to consciously convince ourselves in order for the effect to be prominent.
yes i believe this work for sure, ive studied psychology at uni for five years and i am completely convinced that we can alter our minds to overcome anything even the wrst diseases. how we harness the placebo effect however is difficult i suppose that is why we do not have it yet as for these people to not know it is a placebo than we will need to create some conspiracy that only health practitioners know about… i think that the only realistic way that this may work is if we do some cognitive research on the activity levels and locations in the brain that are effected when told people are taking a placebo drug vs being told it is the real drug (when in fact it is the placebo). this should help us todetect what parts of the mind is stimulated and then we need to find out how to stimulate these same areas in the same pattern consciously, which will be a matter of trial and effect
there have been quite a few studies on the power of meditation and conceptualized healing with stage 4 cancer patients. the mind is an incredibly powerful engine. hypnosis has shown to be an effective pain killer. i have seen a film of a man who meditated while have minor surgery and never felt a thing. the problem with studying placebo effects is that you are required by law to tell the subjects that some of them will be getting the drug and some a placebo. so some patients complain eventhough they have been given the drug, and some think they're cured eventhough they got the placebo simply because their minds cause them to think that. there's a healing process called reiki healing that has shown to have some results but this is mainly thought to be because the person thinks it is working and not so much the actual process.