I was randomly searching about the placebo effect online, trying to catch up on some blogging that will most likely not really be read but anywho! :)

The Nocebo Effect. o.0
(Below is from skepdic.com)

A nocebo (Latin for "I will harm") is something that should be ineffective but which causes symptoms of ill health. A nocebo effect is an ill effect caused by the suggestion or belief that something is harmful. The term 'nocebo' became popular in the 1990s. Prior to that, both pleasant and harmful effects thought to be due to the power of suggestion were usually referred to as being due to the placebo effect.

More than two-thirds of 34 college students developed headaches when told that a non-existent electrical current passing through their heads could produce a headache.
"Japanese researchers tested 57 high school boys for their sensitivity to allergens. The boys filled out questionnaires about past experiences with plants, including lacquer trees, which can cause itchy rashes much as poison oak and poison ivy do. Boys who reported having severe reactions to the poisonous trees were blindfolded. Researchers brushed one arm with leaves from a lacquer tree but told the boys they were chestnut tree leaves. The scientists stroked the other arm with chestnut tree leaves but said the foliage came from a lacquer tree. Within minutes the arm the boys believed to have been exposed to the poisonous tree began to react, turning red and developing a bumpy, itchy rash. In most cases the arm that had contact with the actual poison did not react." (Gardiner Morse, "The nocebo effect," Hippocrates, November 1999, Hippocrates.com)

I found this to be really interesting. I kinda reminds me of an experiment we saw on one of the videos where if you were told that the water you were putting your hand into is warm, you wouldn't react as much, but if you were told it was really hot, you would react quite differently to water at the same temperature.

"In one experiment, asthmatic patients breathed in a vapor that researchers told them was a chemical irritant or allergen. Nearly half of the patients experienced breathing problems, with a dozen developing full-blown attacks. They were “treated” with a substance they believed to be a bronchodilating medicine, and recovered immediately. In actuality, both the “irritant” and the “medicine” were a nebulized saltwater solution."*

The above experiment is really intriguing as well. A combination of the nocebo and the placebo effect. It is remarkable that people would develop such serious attacks with no real reason behind them other than their mind playing a trick on them. The nocebo effect is deemed to be nearly as bad as the placebo effect in some people because they believe that they will only get worse before they get better.

But that tis all for now. Back to reading Beloved... o.e