This is off topic , but since Eric's URL is totally off topic I feel I am justified in continuing the thread<G>. First of all, great article!! I have never seen all of the variables involving a placebo so clearly laid out. Being trained as a conventional practitioner of medical treatment (both in pharmacology and dentistry) have always tended to rule out anything that can not be clearly documented and have looked upon "alternative medicine" as witch craft. But as I have grown older and had more life experiences, I have come to understand the human "machine" more fully and with a much more opened mind. The ability to cure by simply using the mind is not Voo Doo, but based on sound scientific principle. I has it's limitations and varies from person to person. Also the term psychosomatic does not necessarily mean that a person does not have an illness (although that is the general usage of the word). Our brains do much more then simply interpret senses make decisions and allow us to do physical things, etc. They can send signals to parts of the body that are capable of releasing "drugs" that will affect our well being. Just because a person's test results all come back negative does not mean that the person is not ill (again the term psychosomatic). It may simply indicate that we have yet to discover the test to diagnosis the illness. Actually this is not off topic, since all of this can be applied to our perception and testing of sound. If we relied strictly on measurements by instruments of our own design, a piece of audio reproductive electronics might appear to be inferior or superior. The fact is there is a vast difference between an oscilloscope and the human "instrument". One last thing that a statement about the origins of the term placebo remind me of; "The word placebo (�I will please� in Latin) entered the English language by way of a peculiar mistranslation of the 116th Psalm that read, �I will please the Lord� rather than �I will walk before the Lord�". I constantly hear people using the term "Thou Shall Not Kill" as one of the Ten Commandments. This too is a mistranslation of the ancient Hebrew. The actual phrase states "Thou Shall Not Murder". Anyone reading this e mail has either stopped before this point for lack of interest or is thinking, "there the same thing". But that is not true. The term kill applies to the taking of any life for any reason. While the term murder is the unjustified taking of a life. There are times when it may be morally justified to take the life of another. Such as self defense. My religion not only allows you to use self defense, but rather commands you to do everything within you power to prevent the unjustified attempt at taking you life at the hand of another. Everything short of the killing of an innocent to preserve your own life. In that case, you are expected to martyr yourself. Sorry for getting off topic. Blame it at least in small part on Rick<G>. Larry Eric Woudenberg wrote: > Nice article on the placebo effect in medicine: > http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/mdd/99/aug/mysterious.html > > Rick > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word > "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
