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People are often intrigued by the idea that the mind has healing powers over the body. To understand this concept better, researchers have observed the placebo effect and its role in the improvement of health. They have received positive reports for certain ailments, indicating that the mind and the bodywork in tandem. Thereby, the next most important research question is- which ailments can be healed using the power of the mind and to what extent? The efficiency of drugs used for the treatment of diseases depends on several factors. Among them, our own mind is an important one. Researchers from science and pseudoscience backgrounds explained the ways in which one can control the mind and use it to heal the body.
Dan Moerman, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, stated that he talks to his medicines before taking them. He said believing that your medicine will heal your body, has a dramatic influence on how the body will respond to the drug. The placebo effect has shown that simply trusting a treatment, even if it is inert such as a sugar pill or a saline injection, could stimulate the desired effect. Clinical trials have shown that the beliefs of the patient can trigger the release of natural painkillers, lower blood pressure or heart rate, improve neuronal firing patterns, antidepressants,s and boost immune response. Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard Medical School, Boston, along with his colleagues performed an experiment where they administered an inert pill to people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). They explained to the participants of the clinical trial that these inert pills have shown promising results in IBS treatment. The researchers found that despite knowing that the medicines were inert, the average participants of the study reported improvement. On the contrary, another group, which was not provided with any medicine reported no change in their state. Irving Kirsch, a psychologist at the University of Hull, UK, who was involved in this study explained that the key reason for the difference in the result was giving patients something to believe in.
Another factor is convincing oneself that “everything’s is going to be alright”. In other words, thinking positive can strongly influence the improvement of our health conditions. Interestingly, in comparison to the people who are lonely, people who are strongly connected with friends and family, age slowly, get quality sleep and have shown a better response to vaccines. Both John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago and Charles Raison of Emory University, USA, stated that curing loneliness could cure lots of diseases. Cacioppo reported that individuals who have a strong social life are healthy and are found to have a greater life span. In lonely people, genes controlling cortisol production and inflammatory responses get upregulated.
Scientific experiments are conducted to find out why monks, who meditate on mountaintops for longer periods, have great physical health and spiritual illumination. These studies have shown that meditation has a range of benefits that include enhancement of immune response in cancer patients, prevention of relapse in severe depression, reduction in the progression of HIV disease, slowing the process of aging, and improvement in skin health. According to Clifford Saron and colleagues at the Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, USA, the concentration of an enzyme that builds up telomeres are found to be higher in the treatment group (people who have undergone a three-month meditation retreat) than the control group. Telomers are protective caps that are present at the ends of chromosomes and play a significant role in aging. Scientists rationalize the above finding by noting that meditation controls the stress response pathways. Another study has also documented lower levels of cortisol in people who meditate. Elissa Epel, a psychiatrist at the University of California, and her colleagues have shown that structural changes in the brain are observed even eleven hours after meditation.
In the 18th century, Franz Mesmer claimed that hypnotherapy could cure any kind of ailment. Peter Whorwell, University of Manchester, UK, studied hypnosis for the treatment of IBS. In the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, IBS is the only condition for which hypnosis is recommended. Researchers believe that individuals who get more exposed to nature or the environment have a better chance of healing via meditation and ultimately hypnotic suggestion. This group also has a stronger immune regulation.
Studies also support the fact that advanced lung cancer patients who have high spiritual faith respond better to chemotherapy and survive longer than those who exhibit lower faith. Several studies have shown a connection between religion and better health. Religious people are reported to have lower cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, stroke, and metabolic disorders. However, there is a group of researchers who disagree with this connection. Richard Sloan, Columbia University Medical Center, stated that these conclusions have been drawn without considering various factors. He added, many a time religious individuals lead a lifestyle that entails minimum risk-taking.
In her book, Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body, Jo Marchant has explained why the mind’s healing power is now being measured more seriously by scientists. According to her, some scientists are averse to this belief. This form of treatment has no measurable factor and relies largely on the emotion and faith of омгомг ссылка individuals. Additionally, even if the trials of a new treatment against a placebo could determine the biochemical action of a drug, it fails to assess stress reduction and social support. During the course of writing the book, the author interviewed several researchers who complained that placebo treatment or hypnotism are often ignored because they cannot be commodified by pharma companies.
Marchant surveyed a large number of innovative, non-traditional treatments for severe pain. She addressed mind/body problems in her book and explained how a placebo plays a trick in our mind and cures the body. According to Marchant, often doctors and researchers do not consider the mind while treating physical health issues. However, scientific evidence supports the careful consideration of the power of the mind while treating patients.
