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The Placebo Experiment. BBC2 at 9pm 4th Oct. 2018.

jennydog profile image
10 Replies

This post is a follow up to Bob's thread yesterday about the side effects of drugs.

Radio 4 interviewed Dr Michael Mosley this morning about this experiment. Apparently they fed fake tablets (rice powder) to 115 people and the effects were astonishing. Can the brain cure the body?

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jennydog profile image
jennydog
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10 Replies
BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer

Missed this Jenny but on my view yes. Witch doctors and shamen have been doing this for centuries----and killing people !

jennydog profile image
jennydog in reply toBobD

It's on tonight.

jeanjeannie50 profile image
jeanjeannie50

Will watch this with interest tonight Jenny. In fact I'm going to go and set it up to record right now. Thanks for letting us know.

Jean

10gingercats profile image
10gingercats in reply tojeanjeannie50

Yes. interesting and may well work for some problems but my heart definitely likes its daily doses of Verapamil otherwise it can get really cranky and bad tempered .

I have heard of cases where patients with advanced dementia have become quite aggressive and distressed due to obsession about requiring tablets and refusing to become involved in any activities (including personal care) until they've taken their tablets. In this case - they were given smarties and told to take their tablets then they could get up and washed etc..... worked like a charm and they said they felt so much better and able to do things once they'd had their pills!

RiderontheStorm profile image
RiderontheStorm

First heard of this some years ago when they wheeled people in for knee surgery and the doctor put the patient under anesthesia and did nothing but make an incision and sew it back up. This was done over a period of two years for hundreds of patients and the end result was the people who actually had no actual surgery were as well off physically as the people who really did have surgery! **From what I have gone thru in the past few years with issues I now believe in the mind body connection strongly as never before.

CaroleF profile image
CaroleF

Definitely going to watch this a bit later this evening. What would be really interesting, in the light of Bob's thread about side effects, would be if there was research to test the hypothesis that knowing in advance about common side effects (ie. reading the leaflet in the box/researching online) of a particular medication increased the likelihood of experiencing one or more them.

Jacqlihe profile image
Jacqlihe

Unfotunately missed it, I would have been interested as I m now viewing pills from a quite different angle this is possibly just me ( yes, the ppatient from whatever!))but not one of the many, many pills or combinations I have taken over the last 8/10 years has done anything to improve my condition, I have been landed in hospital three times ( very seriously) because of increased dosages , and firmly believe that the treatments actually made my condition worse I firmly said no more we ve pproved it and got agreement i stopped taking pills felt very, very much better, now having an odd episode which normall y incapcitates me and can manage reasonably well wonder what would have happenedif I d done this before my three ablations

Would I have just “managed A/F “

jennydog profile image
jennydog in reply toJacqlihe

It takes courage to stop taking the tablets! I have had awful side effects from some.

The programme showed how a longer,unrushed GP appointments were beneficial.

I think that it would upset me to be given placebos. My AF definitely isn't brain related!

Best wishes

Jacqlihe profile image
Jacqlihe

No I agree I think af is definitely not brain related, , I do think I get myself quite stressed by it , Which annoys me even more= ssstttrrreeesss! not helpbut have now realised how absolutely awful the various pills made me feel and how I blamed the AF for this !

I also realised the other day, just how stressedabsolutely silly things were making me and I have, all my life prided myself on keeping calm - weirdbut might just be cause and effect !

I m trying to work on this, but for me stopping the pills ( much discussed with my medical advisors then agreed) but now proven, has been an extraodinary revelation

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