THE POWER OF MIND OVER MEDICINES: THE PLACEBO EFFECT

All of us have come across the detail of stress being a risk factor for the majority, almost all, of the health conditions. To our knowledge, we know that this is due to the release of inflammatory mediators by our body, under the influence of stress leading to the development of such pathological conditions. If stress, by modulating our mind, can produce this effect on our body, what truly is the power our mind has over our body?

The idea of the power the mind has over the body has been an undeniably fascinating topic for the scientist around the world. The body and the mind have been divided into two separate entities for the sake of administering treatment for various illnesses the body has to go through. However, it is only rational to know that the mind and the body interact, for e.g.: when you are confronted with unfortunate news, you can feel your heart skip a beat. For ages, the idea of “healing through thoughts” has been enchanting, but when it comes to the real scenario, when we hear of such claims from therapists stating the cure for cancer by controlling the mind or the cure of paralysis, we are inclined to dismiss these statements are mere bizarre and grotesque. Recently a group of scientific researches suggest that our mind can, in fact, play an important role in healing our body.

So what’s the deal?

Your mind can be a powerful healing tool when given the chance. The idea of “placebo- effect” the tricking of mind into thinking that it has been treated with an actual medicine rather than a fake one and thus stimulating healing has been proven to be as effective as traditional medicine under the right circumstances. “The placebo effect is more than just positive thinking; believing a treatment or procedure will work, creating a stronger connection between the brain and the body and how they will work together” as stated by Professor Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, whose research focuses on the placebo effect. People often believe that treatments such as acupuncture, reiki have produced a reformation in their health even though these treatments are not backed up with scientific evidence. The scientific explanation for the benefits the people experience has been postulated to be because of the interplay of factors such as social support, positive expectations from the treatment that can trigger physiological changes that can ease the symptoms. In a study concerning the placebo effect, testing how people reacted to the pain medication, one group had received the real pain medication and the other group did not. In the following days both the groups were given placebos and it was found that the group that had received the pain medication earlier had been to tolerate pain more effectively than the other group. This type of learned response after a personal experience is call conditioning effect, which seems to be a part of the so-called placebo effect. Many ancient cultures depended on mind-body connections to treat illness. The people treating the diseases may not have viewed their treatment s as placebos but could have produced healing effect through the strong belief of the patient or it could have been the case of a patient who was going to get better anyway. Another potential area where a placebo has proven its efficacy is in the immune response. Here when we take the drug for a few days the body learns the relationship between the drug and our suppressed immune system. So after a few days of treatment, if we continue by taking placebos, our body responds to it by producing the same suppressed immune response. This effect had happened by the mere action of only taking a pill and not because of the drug, which must have imparted a feeling of safety and support and a feeling that their condition is going to improve. This phenomenon can also be attributed to biological conditioning.

What could have been the mechanism behind this effect?

The role our mental state plays in perceiving the extend of the symptoms such as pain, nausea, fatigue we experience is critical. Taking a placebo painkiller can actually cause relief of pain to some to extend as the brain is tricked into thinking that it has been given some treatment. It responds by releasing endorphins that can elevate the pain we feel. Why is this so? Because the entire process, i.e. the feeling of pain to its perception and the elevation of pain is all controlled by our brain. So when we trick it into thinking that it has been given treatment, it produces a proportional result. The same can be explained by a simple daily life example: when we feel stressed, alone or under threat, our brain starts releasing warning signals and when we get out of the situation or when we feel supported and cared for, the feeling of optimism and safety floods us as the warning signals issued by the brain ease off once the crisis is over. Similarly, the experience of receiving medical attention-whether real or fake- can have this effect on our brain and can reduce the symptoms.  Although the mechanism of action of placebos are not fully understood it is said to involve a complex biochemical neurobiological reaction that ranges from the release of endorphins and dopamine to greater activity in the certain regions of the brain linked to moods, emotional reactions, and self-awareness. All of this can have some therapeutic effect.

The placebo effect, however, has not shown any significantly relevant changes in the condition of the patients taking chemotherapy for cancer, statins or that of diabetes. Here there is an absolute need of a chemical agent.

How can we make use of the placebo effect?

The ethical obstacle being faced with the use of placebos is that it gives an idea that the patient is being fooled as they are thinking that they’ve received a true drug when in reality they are not. But there are interesting researches going on with the use of placebos with complete awareness of the patient as the placebos have shown to work with the patient even though the patient is fully aware that it is a placebo. The effect is not as comparable with that of the drug itself but significant results can be provided. Trials done in irritable bowel syndrome, depression etc has shown that. Since the act of taking medicines can provide significant results, it can be said that the effect of a drug can be attributed to its chemical entity as also partly to the placebo effect. Hence in all the trials where the patient is well aware that it is a placebo, there can still be significant results. We can, therefore reduce the dose of the drug by means of placebo and still achieve the benefits. It could also reduce the incidence of tolerance, toxicity as well as to attain cost reduction.

Researches in settle have developed a virtual reality landscape called Snow World. It is meant to work as a painkiller, based on the fact that the brain has a limited capacity for attention and hence if the virtual reality has claimed the attention, there is very little capacity left for experiencing pain. Researches like this explore the psychological approaches one can take to handle or treat pain; thereby maximizing the effectiveness of drugs and in some cases to replace them.

Give yourself a placebo.

How can we do this without taking a pill? Practising self- help: engaging in healthy living- eating healthy, exercise, meditation, yoga, quality time with people can all add up to the placebo effect. These practices can act as a positive interaction with oneself thereby providing us with emotional support and attention that can go a long way.

Ms.Aneeta Jeeson, 3^rd PharmD