Mainstream medicine has uncovered the placebo effect and discounted it at the same time.  But more and more it appears that a patient’s expectations, beliefs, and personality are important in the outcome of an illness. By extension, they are also important is preserving health. In the first post devoted to this topic, I cited new…

For decades the placebo effect has existed basically as a nuisance, so far as the medical profession is concerned.   Some people benefit from being given a sugar pill instead of an actual drug. This remarkable result cannot be marketed, however. It doesn’t fall within the ethics of medicine to prescribe fake drugs. Therefore, a…

Alarming data and warnings about climate change have been with us for twenty years. The issue has morphed into something like a low-level toothache. The public is numbed by all the bad news, and in place of sensible solutions, we witness the folly of political polarization. You can’t believe in climate change and be a…

Because the campaign to get people to practice prevention isn’t being followed up with compliance, American health is at risk. This is true financially, of course, as the cost of caring for an aging population rises precipitously. But it’s even more alarming to consider that 95 cents of every health care dollar is spent after…

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