If you saw the recent Horizon programme 'The power of the placebo' you may have been as amazed and fascinated as me to discover how some minds can be 'tricked' into actually believing that they are being given powerful drugs which will have a definite physiological effect, when all the time they are just being given a placebo or 'dummy' pill.
The most incredible example of how powerful placebo can be was the case of the man from Vancouver who had Parkinson's disease. He had been deprived of his medication for some time and was suffering from the crippling effects of the disease and then when he was treated with drugs he immediately felt better, could straighten up and be fully mobile. All this happened even though he had actually been given no medication at all, merely placebo.
Even people given placebo pills knowingly seemed to experience a relief of their symptoms, as in the case of the woman with IBS who actually tried to buy placebo pills from a health food store after the three week clinical trial was over. Whilst on the trial her IBS symptoms were completely eradicated, only to return again once she stopped taking the placebo pills.
Whilst watching the programme I had a strange feeling that in some sense I am a placebo operative, as, whilst I do not hand out medication, I do allow people to entertain an expectation that they will feel better. And, sure enough, the programme actually explored the use of hypnosis as a type of placebo, showing a dentist using a hypnotic trance as anaesthesia for surgical removal of a tooth. The man in question was asked about the level of pain he felt while the tooth was being pulled, and it was minimal - on a scale of 0-10, no more than a 4, whereas it would normally be about 9.
It was stressed during the course of the programme that part of the placebo effect comes from the patient's belief and trust in the medical practitioner. Treatments seemed to work much better if the patient was offered the right amount of care, attention and kindness.
I have a strong belief that we all have within us natural painkillers, mood chemicals, powerful in-built drugs which - given the right help and techniques - we can harness for our ultimate wellbeing.
I am ever hopeful that the mainstream are beginning to recognise this too.
Best wishes,
Wendy x
Monday, 17 February 2014
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Fat vs Sugar
I was really interested to watch Horizon this week which showed an experiment on twins, both doctors, Chris and Xand van Tulleken.
For a period of about one month one twin had to consume just fatty, high protein foods and the other carb-rich sugary food. During and at the end of this research they took lots of tests which measured their level of fitness, weight, cholesterol and blood sugar. What was really surprising was the twin who had enjoyed the sugary diet remained roughly the same in terms if body composition, weight and fitness, but the other twin - although he more weight - ended up losing a significant amount of muscle mass and also was dangerously close to becoming diet. For the doctors and I would imagine for most of the general public this was contrary to what they had expected, as it would generally be thought that a diet high in sugar would tend to lead to diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses.
The conclusion that was eventually drawn was that the major reason for our current obesity crisis is down to both sugar and fat in equal measure. A large proportion of processed food contains almost half and half sugar and fat and apparently it is this combination which is highly addictive. These types of food are difficult to resist and can lead to an addiction which can be as strong drugs or alcohol.
As we all probably realise deep down there is no magic solution to the obesity crisis. In a society which tends to favour extremes and quick fixes, we have to ultimately realise that what is needed is balance and a return to wholesome natural unprocessed food.
I remember my mum telling me what she used to eat as a child and a lot of it sounded really unhealthy, bread and dripping, heavy puddings, dumplings, butter and the list goes on. However there wasn't a huge problem ith obesity at that time. Of course, people tended to do more physical activity and this is something which needs to be addressed too.
At a basic level it is really quite simple: exercise more and eat good quality, unprocessed food in reasonable quantities. Unfortunately, this seems to be something that many of us find so difficult to do.
My very best wishes for a healthy February,
Wendy x
For a period of about one month one twin had to consume just fatty, high protein foods and the other carb-rich sugary food. During and at the end of this research they took lots of tests which measured their level of fitness, weight, cholesterol and blood sugar. What was really surprising was the twin who had enjoyed the sugary diet remained roughly the same in terms if body composition, weight and fitness, but the other twin - although he more weight - ended up losing a significant amount of muscle mass and also was dangerously close to becoming diet. For the doctors and I would imagine for most of the general public this was contrary to what they had expected, as it would generally be thought that a diet high in sugar would tend to lead to diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses.
The conclusion that was eventually drawn was that the major reason for our current obesity crisis is down to both sugar and fat in equal measure. A large proportion of processed food contains almost half and half sugar and fat and apparently it is this combination which is highly addictive. These types of food are difficult to resist and can lead to an addiction which can be as strong drugs or alcohol.
As we all probably realise deep down there is no magic solution to the obesity crisis. In a society which tends to favour extremes and quick fixes, we have to ultimately realise that what is needed is balance and a return to wholesome natural unprocessed food.
I remember my mum telling me what she used to eat as a child and a lot of it sounded really unhealthy, bread and dripping, heavy puddings, dumplings, butter and the list goes on. However there wasn't a huge problem ith obesity at that time. Of course, people tended to do more physical activity and this is something which needs to be addressed too.
At a basic level it is really quite simple: exercise more and eat good quality, unprocessed food in reasonable quantities. Unfortunately, this seems to be something that many of us find so difficult to do.
My very best wishes for a healthy February,
Wendy x
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