When You Go To The Doctor, Do You Get REAL or FAKE Medicine? And Which One Is Better?

Posted by Dr. Kurt Meininger at 10:45 PM


Forsyth County – Alpharetta Chiropractor Comments:

Imagine this: You have a joint pain… such as back or neck pain. You go to a rheumatologist – a doctor who treats arthritis and other joint problems. He or she examines you and determines your problem. He or she prescribes a treatment and describes the treatment to you as "a potentially beneficial medicine not typically used for your condition." What Would You Do?

Would you follow his or her recommendations? Probably. And you would probably do it without much question or skepticism at all. Right?

Would THIS information change your decision? According to an October 23, 2008 Associated Press article, a recent survey found about 50% of American doctors REGULARLY give their patients drugs or vitamins that won’t help their condition.

But that’s not the worst part… These "placebo" treatments are not explained to their patients.

For example, in the survey, a random sample of 1,200 internists and rheumatologists were questioned; 679 of the doctors responded to the survey, and… 62% Believed Using A Placebo Treatment Was Ethically Acceptable

But really, is that so bad? After all, some studies have shown the "placebo effect" to be real. A certain percentage of patients actually get better when they believe the treatment they are getting works – when in reality, it is a sugar pill sham. (Which is an amazing testament to the power of your mind and the human body!)

Think about it. Just believing you are going to get better has the ability to make you better. How Can This Be?

Actually, it’s simple. Allow me to explain… Imagine you’re walking in a really dark place. Maybe it’s in the woods… or an unlit street… or you’re home alone one night and all the lights in your house are off… And in the complete darkness… someone sneaks up on you and touches you. Or yells, "BOO!!!"

What happens? Yes… you almost jump out of your skin. But what happens INSIDE YOU?

Here’s what: Your heart rate suddenly and sharply increases. Your pupils dilate. The hair follicles on your body stand on end. Your breathing increases. You stomach feels queasy. You instantly sweat. And you are… Wide Awake And Ready To Go!!!

It’s called the "fight or flight" response. In an instant, your brain signals your body and you produce an incredible array of chemicals – commonly called an "adrenaline rush."

What’s more, anytime you are under stress, your body has a similar response. If the stress or is not so sudden or intense – your body’s response will not be as severe. This is exactly how many people can become "suddenly" ill with a serious disease, even those that seem to have no blatant cause.

Small or moderate amounts of stress can cause your body to dump these "fight or flight" chemicals into your body over and over again for years and years and years. And just like smoking cigarettes over a long period of time can lead to lung cancer and other serious health problems, your body’s reaction to stress can slowly break down your immune system and lead to real problems.

Which is exactly why so many people say… Stress Kills! On the other side of the coin, if your body can produce "bad" chemicals, it can also produce "good" ones. That’s what the placebo effect is. When you believe 100% you are taking a medication that will help, your body reacts in a way that heals.

Here’s one very good theory about why that happens… When you are faced with stress, your body reacts in a harsh way in an attempt to save you from the impending danger. The adrenaline rush is important to quickly get you out of harms way, if necessary.

So it makes complete sense that if you REMOVED stress from your life – you would not only never produce the harmful chemicals from the fight or flight reaction – but your body may produce healing chemicals instead.

After all, what happens when you get a placebo? You are sick and stressed out because you are sick. You don’t know if it is serious, if you will get better or if you will get worse. We humans have a tendency to let our minds run crazy and always think of the worst case scenario, don’t we?

I’m sure you’ve had a little ache or pain at some point and thought you had a disease you were going to lose a limb or die from… and then it turned out to be NOTHING!!! We all have. Anyway, back to the placebo effect. When you go to the doctor and he tells you he knows what is wrong with you and gives you something to take care of it – you instantly RELAX.

All the stress and strain of the unknown mystery disease that was going to kill you is gone. Not only is the stress removed, but your body is able to relax and do what it does best… Heal!

So… the placebo effect is a good thing, right? Certainly. But there is an ethical question to all this, that was raised in the above-mentioned survey. You see, for the placebo effect to work, you really have to believe 100% you are receiving a treatment that works.

Can you see the catch 22 for doctors here? In order for the placebo effect to work… They Must Lie To You!

And that’s exactly what the survey found. According to the Associated Press article, "Half of the doctors reported using placebos several times a month, nearly 70 percent of those described the treatment to their patients as ‘a potentially beneficial medicine not typically used for your condition.’ Only 5 percent of doctors explicitly called it a placebo treatment."

And here’s what may be shocking: "Most doctors used actual medicines as a placebo: 41 percent used painkillers, 38 percent used vitamins, 13 percent used antibiotics, 13 percent used sedatives, 3 percent used saline injections, and 2 percent used sugar pills."

When questioned, 60% of doctors said they would prescribe a sugar pill for chronic pain if it had been shown to work better than no treatment.

According to the AP article, Franklin G. Miller, one of the authors of the study and director of the research ethics program at the U.S. National Institutes for Health said, "It’s a disturbing finding. There is an element of deception here which is contrary to the principle of informed consent."

Clearly, there are two BIG issues here: Always doing what’s best for your patients and always informing them everything that is going on. You may ask yourself this: Would you rather receive a placebo and not know about it and get better… or… be 100% informed and stay sick? Only you can answer that question.

But on the bright side – this demonstrates the body’s amazing ability to produce whatever it needs to heal itself. And more of your time and effort should be spent on eliminating all the stresses in your life – and focusing on all the wonderful things life has to offer. There is no doubt you will be happier… and healthier!!!

For more information about our non-drug pain relief center or to schedule an appointment with the doctor, please call our office at 770-777-0900 and also visit our website: http://www.painreliefcare.com.

Our standard business hours are: Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM and Tuesday and Thursday between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM.

 

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