Placebo Effect

Here’s the article from Wikipedia, a popular Internet source, about placebo. Note that some paragraphs are rephrased for your easy reading.

 

“A placebo is a trick used in medicine when a patient is given a fake pill, told that that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that that pill was fake. Such a medical intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will help him/her to recover, and this belief may produce

an actual therapeutic effect, causing the patient to feel better. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.

 

The placebo effect points to the importance of the perception and the brain’s role in physical health. This effect has been used not only with pills, but also with creams, inhalants, injections, and many other therapies. Medical devices such as ultrasound can act as placebos too.

 

The physicians (family doctors) have even been called placebos. A study found that patient recovery can be speeded up by words “You will be better in a few days,” or “The treatment would certainly make you better” rather than negative words such as “I am not sure that the treatment I am going to give you will have an effect.”

The placebo effect may be a component of pharmacological therapies: Pain-killing and anxiety-reducing drugs that are infused secretly without an individual’s knowledge are less effective than when a patient knows they are receiving them. Likewise, the effects of stimulation from implanted electrodes in the brains of those with advanced Parkinson’s disease are greater when they are aware they are receiving this stimulation. Sometimes administering or prescribing a placebo merges into fake medicine.

The word placebo came from Latin. It actually means “I shall please.” In 1811, it was defined as “medicine adapted more to please rather than to benefit the patient.” The placebo was first used in the eighteenth century. In 1785, it was defined as a “commonplace method or medicine.” Placebos were widespread in medicine until the twentieth century, and they were sometimes endorsed as “necessary lies.”

Placebos are produced by expectancy effect, where fake pills or substances are believed to be a drug. The expectancy effect can be enhanced through factors such as the enthusiasm of the doctor, differences in size and color of placebo pills, or the use of other inventions such as injections. In one study, the response to a placebo increased from 44% to 62% when the doctor gave them with

“warmth, attention, and confidence.” Expectancy effects have been found to occur with a range of substances. Those who think a treatment will work display a stronger placebo effect than those who do not, as evidenced by a study of acupuncture.

Because the placebo effect is based upon expectations and conditioning, the effect disappears if the patient is told that their expectations are unrealistic or that the placebo intervention is ineffective. A conditioned pain reduction can be totally removed when its existence is explained. It has also been reported of subjects given placebos in a trial of antidepressants that “once the trial was over and the patients who had been given placebos were told as much, they quickly deteriorated.”

A placebo described as a muscle relaxant will cause muscle relaxation, and if described as the opposite—muscle tension. A placebo presented as a stimulant will have this effect on heart rhythm and blood pressure, but when administered as a depressant—the opposite effect. The consumption of caffeine has been reported to cause similar effects even when decaffeinated coffee is consumed. Perceived muscle stimulants such as fake creatine can increase endurance, speed, and weight-lifting ability. Placebos can help smokers quit. Perceived allergens which are not truly allergenic can cause allergies. Inventions such as psychotherapy can have placebo effects. The effect has been even observed in the transplantation of human embryonic neurons into the brains of those with advanced Parkinson’s disease.

Because placebos are dependent upon perception and expectation, various factors which change the perception can increase the magnitude of the placebo response. For example, studies have found that the color and size of the placebo pill makes a difference, with “hot colored” pills working better as stimulants while “cool colored” pills work better as depressants. Capsules rather than tablets seem to be more effective, and size can make a difference. One researcher has found that big pills increase the effect while another has argued that the effect is dependent upon cultural background. More pills, branding, past experience, and high price increase the effect of placebo pills. Injection and acupuncture have larger effect than pills. Proper adherence to placebos has been found to decrease mortality.

Motivation may contribute to the placebo effect. The active goals of an individual change their experience by altering expectation symptoms and by changing their behavior.

The placebo effect can work selectively. If an analgesic placebo cream is applied on one hand, it will reduce pain only in that hand and not elsewhere on the body. If a person is given a placebo under one name, and they respond, they will respond in the same way on a later occasion to that placebo under that name but not if under another.”

 

Nocebo effect

“In the opposite effect”, describes Wikipedia, “a patient who does not believe in a treatment may experience a worsening of symptoms. This effect is called nocebo. This word also has a Latin origin and means “I shall harm.”  Nocebo effect can be measured in the same way as the placebo effect, e.g., when someone receives a fake pill, substance or sham treatment, results may report a worsening of symptoms. The recipients may nullify the treatment by simply having a negative attitude toward the effectiveness of the substance prescribed and the mentality toward the ability to get well”.

This is the same effect we experience when we disbelieve in our capabilities and in what we can achieve in life. If we concentrate our attention on our mistakes and failures, we will always be applying nocebo, and our life will be limited.      

Tips For Winter Jogging

In all honesty I never liked jogging when I was younger, and I always tried to avoid it. But when I started training with my personal trainer he insisted that I train myself to jog and maybe run eventually. To make a long story short it took me good six months before I could actually start enjoying jogging.
Now I can't imagine my life without my daily routine of fresh air and all the great benefits that come with it. It is a really great way to start your day, get energized and speed up your metabolism.
Few safety tips to consider though before doing it in the winter time:

• Make sure to properly cover yourself up - wear a hat, gloves, sweat shirt, jacket, socks, sweat pants and running shoes. Proper running footwear is a must to avoid bad fall that could lead to serious injuries, therefore check out this article for winter footwear advice: 

          http://ezinearticles.com/?Footwear-Advice-For-Winter-Running&id=5067341

I also recommend:

• Moisturize your skin and lips against cold and wind.
• Wear sunglasses on a sunny or windy days to protect your eyes.
• Drink water before you leave the house.
• Start with a fast walk for a warm up, and then when you are ready - progress to jogging. 
• Breath in through your nose, breath out through your mouth.
• Start with 20 minutes in total and then slowly progress to longer time day after day.
• Do not stay out too long in below freezing temperatures.

Have fun!

Sunday Run

I love waking up on Sunday morning and finally not being rushed. Take my time getting dressed. Getting out into the fresh, sunny street, snow flakes falling on my nose as I turn on upbeat music and just run.  I have to admit that it does help very much having my partner beside me. As we run together we feel the connection that motivates and pushes us both. We kind of feed of each other's energy. When the run is over I feel invigorating, full of energy and a sense of accomplishment. After quick shower we have an amazing breakfast smoothie made up of frozen fruit, soy milk, fish oil, flax seeds, chia seeds, protein powder, wheat germ and acidophiles. What a boost! Now I'm ready to tackle the rest of the day and plan the week ahead.

The Psychology of Pigging Out

People like to eat; there is no doubt about that. If there is no other pleasure to fulfill life—there is always food. For many of us, getting together on the weekends never ends up with just a cup of coffee or tea. Very often tables are “bending” from food, all sorts of alcohol, pops, juices, meats, potatoes, pastas, salads, cakes, cookies, puddings—you name it.

This is the reason why in all countries all over the world, gyms are packed with people on Mondays and Tuesdays—people feel guilty after their weekends.

At a regular party with 3–5 course meal and alcohol, you can easily consume between 2,000 and 5,000 calories. This is not very hard to calculate:

·         3 drinks – 450 calories (150 cal. each)

·         3 courses – 900 calories (300 cal. each course)

·         1 midsize desert – 450 calories.

Here you go, the total is approximately 2,000 calories. But at a single party, some people drink more than 3 drinks, eat more that 300 calories per course, and have more than 1 desert.

How can we enjoy our parties but still prevent from gaining fat? In order to understand that, let’s first see how our body stores the energy.

Imagine your body storages as containers. There are containers for sugar and also containers for fat. Our body always tries to keep those containers full for future use.  When we exercise, our body uses energy from those containers. Later when we eat again, the body fills them up.

The fat containers are the ones that cause us to get bigger because the body has the ability to build more of them. It does it by building more of the fat cells. Later, when we try to lose body fat, the unpleasant thing happens—the body gets too “comfortable” with the new number of fat cells because these new fat cells are like a bank account for the body and are not considered as a bad thing. The body always tries to hold on to that new “account”—number of fat cells—and empty them only temporarily. When we overeat again, the body will try to fill them up just like we would try to recover money we spent from our account. Once new fat cells are built, they never get removed from the body, and those “accounts” never get closed.  This is one of the main reasons why people “go back and forth” on the weight loss progress—their bodies don’t like the idea of keeping the new fat cells empty.

Preventing building new fat cells is the main trick to always stay in good shape. Keeping fat cells empty is harder, and those who previously lost weight know how hard it can be to lose body fat and how easy it is to gain it back.

But there is a trick to prevent yourself from generating new fat cells when going to parties, and that trick is called “paying it forward.”

If you do intensive workout right before your party, you will partially empty your storing containers, and before your body builds new fat cells, it will try to fill them up, converting sugar from your cake into glycogen instead of fat, using your meat protein from your steak to rebuild your muscles, and using fat from your sauces and salad dressings to help your body recover after the workout. If during your party you move, dance, or play instead of sitting around, some more energy will be spent, leading to even less chances for a new fat cell generation.

People who don’t exercise during their weekends and go to their gyms after their parties are doing it too late. While they are still burning some body fat, that fat comes from fat cells newly generated over their weekends.    

In order to prevent building new fat cells, exercise before your party, not after, and pay it forward.