Placebo explained?

[aaqucnaona]

There is this Nicholas Humphrey's (2002) "economic resource management" hypothesis. It states:
The body has many resources to cure its own ailments: pain to discourage
activity that can further damage an injury, fevers to combat
infection, vomiting to rid the digestive system of toxins, and immune
responses, to mention the most powerful. These are all effective
but costly; overuse, or premature use, by the body could actually
end up harming the body more than helping. (Full-scale immune
responses are particularly costly, and only the healthiest animals
can maintain a fully equipped army of antibodies.) When should a
body spare no expense in hopes of a quick cure? Only when it is safe
to do so, or when help is just around the corner. Otherwise, it
might be more prudent for the body to be stingy with its costly selftreatments.
The placebo effect, according to this hypothesis, is a releasing
trigger, telling the body to pull out all the stops because
there is hope. In other species, the hope variable is presumably
tuned to whatever information the animal can glean from its current
surroundings (is it safe in its den, or in the middle of its herd,
and is there plenty of food around?); in us, the hope variable can be
manipulated by authoritative figures. These are questions worth
further investigation.

Original Source - Dan. Dannett - Breaking the Spell.
Additional sources [journals, news, research data]:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Humphrey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_management_system

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...O00bFVjNiZgEf6PgA&sig2=gSsQCOYGAWXuoEycSWPP7A

http://readingbyeugene.com/2011/12/13/the-placebo-effect-and-the-self-management-system/

http://edge.org/conversation/the-evolved-self-management-system

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...BmaRMhdPNGEp1Qi_g&sig2=E9DR6wj7oCo-0P7EPI5MMg

http://www.coxontool.com/index.php/Health/PlaceboEffect

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...iO4yp3S-_1UnrdpxA&sig2=3KIKDvJzSfQVxcR0B-K74A

Ps. Its a relatively tentative hypotheisis so for, what do you think about it?

 

[aaqucnaona]

Anyone?

 

[Kittamaru]

I personally believe the placebo effect stems from our own mind/body connection - it is well documented that willpower and determination are incredible aids to the healing process - it is apparent that you can, in fact, help "will" yourself better, much like a hypochondriac can "will" themselves to have symptoms of illness. The question becomes, then, how do you stimulate this healing ability in someone untrained in tapping into such potential. The answer would seem to lie in making them THINK they have taken something that should do this for them.

The problem here is, we as a society are so jaded with medicine that some people actually don't believe one way or another that something will work, and thus the placebo effect can be reduced/skewed because of it.

*shrugs* Just my two cents