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A new spin on the placebo effect
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of MSNBC/Associated Press
Posted: November 11th, 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10242034/
Research is showing the power of expectations, that they have physical -- not just psychological -- effects on your health. Your expectations can have profound impacts on your brain and your health, says Columbia University neuroscientist Tor Wager. Doctors have long thought the placebo effect was psychological. Now scientists are amassing the first direct evidence that the placebo effect actually is physical, and that expecting benefit can trigger the same neurological pathways of healing as real medication does. University of Michigan scientists injected the jaws of healthy young men with salt water to cause painful pressure, while PET scans measured the impact in their brains. During one scan, the men were told they were getting a pain reliever, actually a placebo. Their brains immediately released more endorphins -- chemicals that act as natural painkillers -- and the men felt better.
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