The Placebo Response and the Power of Unconscious Healing

Approximately 1 in 4 patients receiving a placebo, or harmless sugar pill, will report side effects, from pains and fatigue to nausea. Called the "nocebo effect," this odd phenomenon has resulted in patients being pulled from clinical trials and more than 76.6 billion in bogus hospital costs. According to medical researcher, physician, and author Richard Kradin, MD, our fears and doubts can do serious damage to our health. Dr. Kradin is the country's leading researcher on the placebo effect and says its evil twin, the nocebo effect, is just as fascinating.
Readers learn:
How our earliest childhood experiences may influence our relationship to illness and healing later in life
Why focused positive thinking, self-help strategies, and visualizing may actually hinder the placebo response
How medicine is what primes the pump for the body to heal itself
Why doctors and researchers are biased against placebo responses, despite their proven effectiveness
How a pills size, color, brand, and frequency of administration can all influence patients responses to it
The role of placebo responses in alternative medicine