Can the `Expectancy Effect` Help You Heal

Released on = February 19, 2007, 3:21 am

Press Release Author = Dr. Laurence Magne

Industry = Healthcare

Press Release Summary = From the desk of Dr Magne, author with Wallace D. Wattles of
The Science of Being Well Home Study Course.


Press Release Body =

A Harvard anesthesiologist coined the phrase the \"placebo effect,\" after he
discovered that injections of a saline solution helped wounded soldiers in World War
II overcome pain once the morphine ran out. Now, a group of Oregon scientists are
following in his footsteps as they begin mapping what they call the \"expectancy
effect\" - the impact on health of a person\'s expectations of getting well.

Up to 35% of a therapeutic response to any medical treatment could be the result of
belief, Oregon researchers hope to show that a patient\'s expectation of getting well
can have a positive affect on their health outcome.

The study\'s goal is to develop models that can be used to study cognitive and
physiological changes that contribute to the expectancy effect.

The models could range from \"perceived self-efficacy\" - the belief that a person can
influence his or her own health - to hormonal activity and genetic changes that
affect the brain\'s neurotransmitter systems. The researchers also hope to improve
the design of clinical trials by learning how individual differences contribute to
changes in their responses to medical treatments.

The expectancy effect is related to the placebo effect, in which a patient reports a
positive response to an inactive medical treatment, such as a sugar pill, as if it
were an active medical treatment.

But the expectancy effect is broader than the placebo effect and includes all
processes and influences that may affect the brain\'s anticipation of a response.

We\'re not talking about patient-physician interaction, which, to some people, is
considered part of placebo effect - the contact, the handholding, the bedside
manners. We\'re really thinking about people\'s hope or expectation that they\'re going
to get better. For example, one recent study showed that Parkinson\'s disease
patients who were administered a placebo experienced changes in brain chemistry
similar to those caused by symptom-treating drugs levodopa and apomorphine.

Do you realize how huge this is? It means that the medicine your doctor gives you is
probably not effective beyond your belief in it. But beyond that, these studies show
the amazing powers of our brains. The healing does not really occur because of the
drug but because of our faith in the doctor and in the drug. Faith healing? It's
really not that different!!

Now I agree that it's a bitter pill to swallow (if you'll pardon the pun), but if
this is true, doesn't that also mean that we have a -very inexpensive- key to
healing? In the Science of Being Well Home Study Course, you will find many examples
and stories to help you develop your own powers of healing using simply the power of
your mind. This is not revolutionary. These secrets have been around for ages. To
learn more, claim your FREE report of the First Secret to Abundant Health on
www.thescienceofbeingwell.biz today!!


Web Site = http://www.thescienceofbeingwell.biz

Contact Details = 1030 Denman Street, Vancouver, BC, v6g2m6, Canada

  • Printer Friendly Format
  • Back to previous page...
  • Back to home page...
  • Submit your press releases...
  •