PLACEBO EB
eBook - ePub

PLACEBO EB

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

PLACEBO EB

About this book

A lucid and stimulating explanation of how the body's natural healing mechanisms work – and how they can be triggered in non-chemical ways via the 'placebo effect'.

Can we really cure ourselves of disease by the power of thought alone? Faith healers and alternative therapists are convinced that we can, but what does science say?

Contrary to public perception, orthodox medical opinion is remarkably confident about the healing powers of the mind. For the past fifty years, doctors have been taught that placebos such as sugar pills and water injections can relieve virtually any kind of medical condition. Yet placebos only work if you believe they work, so the medical confidence in the power of the placebo effect has provided scientific legitimacy to popular claims about the healing powers of the mind.

In this intriguing exploration, Dylan Evans exposes the flaws in the scientific research into the placebo effect and reveals the limits of what can and cannot be cured by thought alone. Drawing on new ideas in immunology and evolutionary biology, Evans proposes a new theory about how placebos work, and asks some searching questions about our concepts of health and disease.

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Yes, you can access PLACEBO EB by Dylan Evans in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Alternative & Complementary Medicine. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Praise
  3. Contents
  4. Preface
  5. 1:Placebos on Trial
  6. 2: What can Placebos Really do?
  7. 3: The Acute Phase Response
  8. 4: The Belief Effect
  9. 5: Why? The Evolutionary Question
  10. 6: Nocebo – Beyond Good and Bad
  11. 7: The Alternatives
  12. 8: Psychotherapy – The Purest Placebo?
  13. 9: The Witch Doctor’s Dilemma
  14. Conclusion
  15. Bibliography
  16. Index
  17. Acknowledgements
  18. About the Author
  19. Notes
  20. By the Same Author
  21. Copyright
  22. About the Publisher