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DESCRIPTION
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 power 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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
1. Placebos on Trial
2. What can Placebos Really do?
3. The Acute Phase Response
4. The Belief Effect
5. Why? The Evolutionary Question
6. Nocebo - Beyond Good and Bad
7. The Alternatives
8. Psychotherapy - the Purest Placebo?
9. The Witch Doctor's Dilemma
Conclusion
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