Placebo Effect

Placebo

It’s about a drug called Krebiozen, an anticancer drug discovered by Steven Duvoric, M.D., then professor at the University of Belgrade back in the 1930s. The drug was endorsed by Dr. Andrew C. Ivy, M.D., one of the top U.S. medical researchers. Ivy called a press conference in 1951 proclaiming the astounding results of Krebiozen to fellow doctors and the media making headline stories throughout the world.

Placebo Effect

One documented case of the placebo effect still talked about today is the case of a patient known as Mr. Wright. Wright’s body cavity was ridden with tumors as he lay gasping for final breaths through lungs filled with milky fluid, in the final throes of his battle with lymphosarcoma. He had begged Dr. West his physician to let him be part of the trials with Krebiozen, but his terminal condition had disqualified him to be a part of the study.

At the very last moment, Dr. West, thought there would be no harm in giving Wright a shot of Krebiozen to grant his last wish. Wright was administered Krebiozen on Friday and when Dr. West arrived Monday morning, Wright was cheerfully walking about the ward chatting with other patients. After three weeks of injections, Wright was symptom free and dismissed from the hospital.

Expectation and Belief

In these trials though, no one got well. Newspapers reported the results and when Wright read this, all the tumors returned and he was back in the hospital on his death bed. Dr. West, realizing the cure was brought about by Wright’s expectation and belief, told him the failed trials were due to the lost potency of the drug with an extremely short shelf life. He gave Wright an injection of water which he assured Wright was a fresh doubly potent batch of Krebiozen. Once again, his tumors melted away and Wright miraculously recovered just as before. In perfect health for the next seven months, once again he was piloting his plane.

Nocebo Effect

Then the American Medical Association (AMA) came out with their blistering report on Krebiozen being nothing more than bogus snake oil. Every major newspaper picked up on the story. After reading the report, Wright’s tumors returned in force. He was back in the hospital and died in less than two days.

If this happened just this one time, it would be significant in the sense that if it could happen to one human being, it could happen to others. But there are documented cases and studies on record and likely more unreported. Though many doctors have witnessed cases of radical remission, there is little incentive to report them as a physiologically threrapeutic treatment.

Placebo Healing/Stress

The amazing thing is that placebo healing works through the same body system as stress. They are two sides of the coin. So to understand placebo healing, it helps to understand the system that creates stress.

I will talk about the HPA system (hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands) and the General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) in future posts. Both are related to the placebo effect.

Self-help books that help:

Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus

The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body