You Are the Placebo

by Joe Dispenza, Dr.

  3. A. F. Leuchter, I. A. Cook, E. A. Witte, et al., “Changes in Brain Function of Depressed Subjects During Treatment with Placebo,” American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 159, no. 1: pp. 122–129 (2002).

  4. B. Klopfer, “Psychological Variables in Human Cancer,” Journal of Protective Techniques, vol. 21, no. 4: pp. 331–340 (1957).

  5. J. B. Moseley, Jr., N. P. Wray, D. Kuykendall, et al., “Arthroscopic Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Results of a Pilot Study,” American Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 24, no. 1: pp. 28–34 (1996).

  6. Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Networks Europe, Discovery Channel University, et al., Placebo: Mind Over Medicine? directed by J. Harrison, aired 2002 (Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004), DVD.

  7. J. B. Moseley, Jr., K. O’Malley, N. J. Petersen, et al., “A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee,” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 347, no. 2: pp. 81–88 (2002); also note, the following independent study showed similar results: A. Kirkley, T. B. Birmingham, R. B. Litchfield, et al., “A Randomized Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee,” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 359, no. 11: pp. 1097–1107 (2008).

  8. L. A. Cobb, G. I. Thomas, D. H. Dillard, et al., “An Evaluation of Internal-Mammary-Artery Ligation by a Double-Blind Technic,” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 260, no. 22: pp. 1115–1118 (1959); E. G. Diamond, C. F. Kittle, and J. E. Crockett, “Comparison of Internal Mammary Artery Ligation and Sham Operation for Angina Pectoris,” American Journal of Cardiology, vol. 5, no. 4: pp. 483–486 (1960).

  9. T. Maruta, R. C. Colligan, M. Malinchoc, et al., “Optimism-Pessimism Assessed in the 1960s and Self-Reported Health Status 30 Years Later,” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, vol. 77, no. 8: pp. 748–753 (2002).

  10. T. Maruta, R. C. Colligan, M. Malinchoc, et al., “Optimists vs. Pessimists: Survival Rate Among Medical Patients over a 30-Year Period,” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, vol. 75, no. 2: pp. 140–143 (2000).

  11. B. R. Levy, M. D. Slade, S. R. Kunkel, et al., “Longevity Increased by Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 83, no. 2: pp. 261–270 (2002).

  12. I. C. Siegler, P. T. Costa, B. H. Brummett, et al., “Patterns of Change in Hostility from College to Midlife in the UNC Alumni Heart Study Predict High-Risk Status,” Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 65, no. 5: pp. 738–745 (2003).

  13. J. C. Barefoot, W. G. Dahlstrom, and R. B. Williams, Jr., “Hostility, CHD Incidence, and Total Mortality: A 25-Year Follow-Up Study of 255 Physicians,” Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 45, no. 1: 59–63 (1983).

  14. D. M. Becker, L. R. Yanek, T. F. Moy, et al., “General Well-Being Is Strongly Protective Against Future Coronary Heart Disease Events in an Apparently Healthy High-Risk Population,” Abstract #103966, presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Anaheim, CA, (November 12, 2001).

  15. National Cancer Institute, “Anticipatory Nausea and Vomiting (Emesis)” (2013), www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/nausea/HealthProfessional/page4#Reference4.2.

  16. J. T. Hickok, J. A. Roscoe, and G. R. Morrow, “The Role of Patients’ Expectations in the Development of Anticipatory Nausea Related to Chemotherapy for Cancer,” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, vol. 22, no. 4: pp. 843–850 (2001).

  17. R. de la Fuente-Fernández, T. J. Ruth, V. Sossi, et al., “Expectation and Dopamine Release: Mechanism of the Placebo Effect in Parkinson’s Disease,” Science, vol. 293, no. 5532: pp. 1164–1166 (2001).

  18. C. R. Hall, “The Law, the Lord, and the Snake Handlers: Why a Knox County Congregation Defies the State, the Devil, and Death,” Louisville Courier Journal (August 21, 1988); also see http://www.wku.edu/agriculture/thelaw.pdf.

  19. K. Dolak, “Teen Daughters Lift 3,000-Pound Tractor Off Dad,” ABC News (April 10, 2013), http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/teen-daughters-lift-3000-pound-tractor-off-dad.

  20. See note 1.

  Chapter Two

  1. H. K. Beecher, “The Powerful Placebo,” Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 159, no. 17: pp. 1602–1606 (1955).

  2. W. B. Cannon, “Voodoo Death,” American Anthropologist, vol. 44, no. 2: pp. 169–181 (1942).

  3. The term placebo was first used in the part of Psalm 116 that opens the Catholic vespers for the dead. During the Middle Ages, the deceased’s family often hired mourners to sing these verses, and because their fake grieving was sometimes over the top, the word placebo came to mean “flatterer” or “toady.” In the early 19th century, doctors began giving inert tonics, pills, and other treatments to pacify patients whom they couldn’t help or who sought medical attention for imagined ills; these doctors borrowed the term placebo and gave it its current meaning.

  4. Y. Ikemi and S. Nakagawa, “A Psychosomatic Study of Contagious Dermatitis,” Kyoshu Journal of Medical Science, vol. 13: pp. 335–350 (1962).

  5. T. Luparello, H. A. Lyons, E. R. Bleecker, et al., “Influences of Suggestion on Airway Reactivity in Asthmatic Subjects,” Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 30, no. 6: pp. 819–829 (1968).

  6. J. D. Levine, N. C. Gordon, and H. L. Fields, “The Mechanism of Placebo Analgesia,” Lancet, vol. 2, no. 8091: pp. 654–657 (1978); J. D. Levine, N. C. Gordon, R. T. Jones, et al., “The Narcotic Antagonist Naloxone Enhances Clinical Pain,” Nature, vol. 272, no. 5656: pp. 826–827 (1978).

  7. R. Ader and N. Cohen, “Behaviorally Conditioned Immunosuppression,” Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 37, no. 4: pp. 333–340 (1975).

  8. H. Benson, The Relaxation Response (New York: Morrow, 1975).

  9. N. V. Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1952).

  10. N. Cousins, “Anatomy of an Illness (as Perceived by the Patient),” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 295, no. 26: pp. 1458–1463 (1976).

  11. N. Cousins, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1979).

  12. T. Hayashi, S. Tsujii, T. Iburi, et al., “Laughter Up-Regulates the Genes Related to NK Cell Activity in Diabetes,” Biomedical Research (Tokyo, Japan), vol. 28, no. 6: pp. 281–285 (2007).

  13. N. Cousins, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration (New York: Norton, 1979), p. 56.

  14. B. S. Siegel, Love, Medicine, and Miracles: Lessons Learned About Self-Healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients (New York: Harper and Row, 1986).

  15. I. Kirsch and G. Sapirstein, “Listening to Prozac but Hearing Placebo: A Meta-analysis of Antidepressant Medication,” Prevention and Treatment, vol. 1, no. 2: article 00002a (1998).

  16. I. Kirsch, B. J. Deacon, T. B. Huedo-Medina, et al., “Initial Severity and Antidepressant Benefits: A Meta-analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration,” PLOS Medicine, vol. 5, no. 2: p. e45 (2008).

  17. B. T. Walsh, S. N. Seidman, R. Sysko, et al., “Placebo Response in Studies of Major Depression: Variable, Substantial, and Growing,” Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 287, no. 14: pp. 1840–1847 (2002).

  18. R. de la Fuente-Fernández, T. J. Ruth, V. Sossi, et al., “Expectation and Dopamine Release: Mechanism of the Placebo Effect in Parkinson’s Disease,” Science, vol. 293, no. 5532: pp. 1164–1166 (2001).

  19. F. Benedetti, L. Colloca, E. Torre, et al., “Placebo-Responsive Parkinson Patients Show Decreased Activity in Single Neurons of the Subthalamic Nucleus,” Nature Neuroscience, vol. 7, no. 6: 587–588 (2004).

  20. F. Benedetti, A. Pollo, L. Lopiano, et al., “Conscious Expectation and Unconscious Conditioning in Analgesic, Motor, and Hormonal Placebo/Nocebo Responses,” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 23, no. 10: pp. 4315–4323 (2003).

  21. F. Benedetti, H. S. Mayberg, T. D. Wager, et al., “Neurobiological Mechanisms of the Placebo Effect,” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 25, no. 45: pp. 10390–10402 (2005
).

  22. F. Benedetti, M. Amanzio, S. Baldi, et al., “Inducing Placebo Respiratory Depressant Responses in Humans via Opioid Receptors,” European Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 11, no. 2: pp. 625–631 (1999).

  23. T. J. Kaptchuk, E. Friedlander, J. M. Kelley, et al., “Placebos Without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” PLOS ONE, vol. 5, no. 12: p. e15591 (2010).

  24. A. J. Crum and E. J. Langer, “Mind-Set Matters: Exercise and the Placebo Effect,” Psychological Science, vol. 18, no. 2: pp. 165–171 (2007).

  25. R. Desharnais, J. Jobin, C. Côté, et al., “Aerobic Exercise and the Placebo Effect: A Controlled Study,” Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 55, no. 2: pp. 149–154 (1993).

  26. B. Blackwell, S. S. Bloomfield, and C. R. Buncher, “Demonstration to Medical Students of Placebo Responses and Non-drug Factors,” Lancet, vol. 299, no. 7763: pp. 1279–1282 (1972).

  27. I. Dar-Nimrod and S. J. Heine, “Exposure to Scientific Theories Affects Women’s Math Performance,” Science, vol. 314, no. 5798: p. 435 (2006).

  28. C. Jencks and M. Phillips, eds., The Black-White Test Score Gap (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1998).

  29. C. M. Steele and J. Aronson, “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance of African Americans,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 69, no. 5: pp. 797–811 (1995).

  30. A. L. Geers, S. G. Helfer, K. Kosbab, et al., “Reconsidering the Role of Personality in Placebo Effects: Dispositional Optimism, Situational Expectations, and the Placebo Response,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 58, no. 2: pp. 121–127 (2005); A. L. Geers, K. Kosbab, S. G. Helfer, et al., “Further Evidence for Individual Differences in Placebo Responding: An Interactionist Perspective,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 62, no. 5: pp. 563–570 (2007).

  31. D. R. Hamilton, How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2010), p. 19.

  32. D. Goleman, B. H. Lipton, C. Pert, et al., Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for Spirituality (Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2008), p. 196; B. H. Lipton and S. Bhaerman, Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future (and a Way to There from Here) (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2009), p. 25.

  Chapter Three

  1. A. Vickers, People v. the State of Illusion, directed by S. Cervine (Phoenix, AZ: Exalt Films, 2012), film; see also Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, University of California, Los Angeles, http://www.loni.ucla.edu/About_Loni/education/brain_trivia.shtml.

  2. L. R. Squire and E. R. Kandel, Memory: From Mind to Molecules (New York: Scientific American Library, 1999); see also D. Church, The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention (Santa Rosa, CA: Elite Books, 2007), p. 94.

  3. Also known as Hebb’s Rule or Hebb’s Law; see D. O. Hebb, The Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1949).

  4. K. Aydin, A. Ucar, K. K. Oguz, et al., “Increased Gray Matter Density in the Parietal Cortex of Mathematicians: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study,” American Journal of Neuroradiology, vol. 28, no. 10: pp. 1859–1864 (2007).

  5. V. Sluming, T. Barrick, M. Howard, et al., “Voxel-Based Morphometry Reveals Increased Gray Matter Density in Broca’s Area in Male Symphony Orchestra Musicians,” NeuroImage, vol. 17, no. 3: pp. 1613–1622 (2002).

  6. M. R. Rosenzweig and E. L. Bennett, “Psychobiology of Plasticity: Effects of Training and Experience on Brain and Behavior,” Behavioural Brain Research, vol. 78, no. 1: pp. 57–65 (1996); E. L. Bennett, M. C. Diamond, D. Krech, et al., “Chemical and Anatomical Plasticity Brain,” Science, vol. 146, no. 3644: pp. 610–619 (1964).

  Chapter Four

  1. E. J. Langer, Mindfulness (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1989); E. J. Langer, Counter Clockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility (New York: Ballantine Books, 2009).

  2. C. Feinberg, “The Mindfulness Chronicles: On the ‘Psychology of Possibility,’” Harvard Magazine (September—October 2010), http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/09/the-mindfulness-chronicles.

  3. J. Medina, The Genetic Inferno: Inside the Seven Deadly Sins (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 4.

  4. F. Crick, “Central Dogma of Molecular Biology,” Nature, vol. 227, no. 5258: pp. 561–563 (1970).

  5. M. Ho, “Death of the Central Dogma,” Institute of Science in Society press release (March 9, 2004), http://www.i-sis.org.uk/DCD.php.

  6. S. C. Segerstrom and G. E. Miller, “Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System: A Meta-analytic Study of 30 Years of Inquiry,” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 130, no. 4: pp. 601–630 (2004); M. S. Kopp and J. Réthelyi, “Where Psychology Meets Physiology: Chronic Stress and Premature Mortality—The Central-Eastern European Health Paradox,” Brain Research Bulletin, vol. 62, no. 5: pp. 351–367 (2004); B. S. McEwen and T. Seeman, “Protective and Damaging Effects of Mediators of Stress. Elaborating and Testing the Concepts of Allostasis and Allostatic Load,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 896: pp. 30–47 (1999).

  7. J. L. Oschman, “Trauma Energetics,” Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, vol. 10, no. 1: pp. 21–34 (2006).

  8. K. Richardson, The Making of Intelligence (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), referenced by E. L. Rossi, The Psychobiology of Gene Expression: Neuroscience and Neurogenesis in Hypnosis and the Healing Arts (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2002), p. 50.

  9. E. L. Rossi, The Psychobiology of Gene Expression: Neuroscience and Neurogenesis in Hypnosis and the Healing Arts (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2002), p. 9.

  10. D. Church, The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention (Santa Rosa, CA: Elite Books, 2007), p. 32.

  11. See http://www.epigenome.org.

  12. J. Cloud, “Why Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny,” Time Magazine (January 6, 2010), http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1952313,00.html#ixzz2eN2VCb1W.

  13. M. F. Fraga, E. Ballestar, M. F. Paz, et al., “Epigenetic Differences Arise During the Lifetime of Monozygotic Twins,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, vol. 102, no. 30: pp. 10604–10609 (2005).

  14. D. Ornish, M. J. Magbanua, G. Weidner, et al., “Changes in Prostate Gene Expression in Men Undergoing an Intensive Nutrition and Lifestyle Intervention,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 105, no. 24: pp. 8369–8374 (2008).

  15. L. Stein, “Can Lifestyle Changes Bring out the Best in Genes,” Scientific American (June 17, 2008), http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-lifestyle-changes-bring-out-the-best-in-genes.

  16. T. Rönn, P. Volkov, C. Davegårdh, et al., “A Six Months Exercise Intervention Influences the Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Pattern in Human Adipose Tissue,” PLOS Genetics, vol. 9, no. 6: p. e1003572 (2013).

  17. D. Chow, “Why Your DNA May Not Be Your Destiny,” LiveScience (June 4, 2013), http://www.livescience.com/37135-dna-epigenetics-disease-research.html; see also note 12 above.

  18. M. D. Anway, A. S. Cupp, M. Uzumcu, et al., “Epigenetic Transgenerational Actions of Endocrine Disruptors and Male Fertility,” Science, vol. 308, no. 5727: pp. 1466–1469 (2005).

  19. S. Roy, S. Khanna, P. E. Yeh, et al., “Wound Site Neutrophil Transcriptome in Response to Psychological Stress in Young Men,” Gene Expression, vol. 12, no. 4–6: pp. 273–287 (2005).

  20. M. Uddin, A. E. Aiello, D. E. Wildman, et al., “Epigenetic and Immune Function Profiles Associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 107, no. 20: pp. 9470–9475 (2010).

  21. S. W. Cole, B. D. Naliboff, M. E. Kemeny, et al., “Impaired Response to HAART in HIV-Infected Individuals with High Autonomic Nervous System Activity,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 98, no. 22: pp. 12695–12700 (2001).

  22. J. Kiecolt-Glaser, T. J. Loving, J. R. Stowell, et al., “Hostile Marital Interactions, Proinflammatory Cytokine Production, and Wound Healing,” Archives of General Psychiatry, vol. 62, no. 12:
pp. 1377–1384 (2005).

  23. J. A. Dusek, H. H. Otu, A. L. Wohlhueter, et al., “Genomic Counter-Stress Changes Induced by the Relaxation Response,” PLOS ONE, vol. 3, no. 7: p. e2576 (2008).

  24. M. K. Bhasin, J. A. Dusek, B. H. Chang, et al., “Relaxation Response Induces Temporal Transcriptome Changes in Energy Metabolism, Insulin Secretion, and Inflammatory Pathways,” PLOS ONE, vol. 8, no. 5: p. e62817 (2013).

  Chapter Five

  1. S. Schmemann, “End Games End in a Huff,” New York Times (October 20, 1996), http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/20/weekinreview/end-games-end-in-a-huff.html.

  2. J. Corbett, “Aaron Rodgers Is a Superstar QB out to Join Super Bowl Club,” USA Today (January 20, 2011), http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/packers/2011-01-19-aaron-rodgers-cover_N.htm.

  3. J. Nicklaus, Golf My Way, with K. Bowden (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), p. 79.

  4. H. H. Ehrsson, S. Geyer, and E. Naito, “Imagery of Voluntary Movement of Fingers, Toes, and Tongue Activates Corresponding Body-Part-Specific Motor Representations,” Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 90, no. 5: pp. 3304–3316 (2003).

  5. A. Pascual-Leone, D. Nguyet, L. G. Cohen, et al., “Modulation of Muscle Responses Evoked by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation During the Acquisition of New Fine Motor Skills,” Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 74, no. 3: pp. 1037–1045 (1995).

  6. V. K. Ranganathan, V. Siemionow, J. Z. Liu, et al., “From Mental Power to Muscle Power: Gaining Strength by Using the Mind,” Neuropsychologia, vol. 42, no. 7: pp. 944–956 (2004); G. Yue and K. J. Cole, “Strength Increases from the Motor Program: Comparison of Training with Maximal Voluntary and Imagined Muscle Contractions,” Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 67, no. 5: pp. 1114–1123 (1992).

  7. P. Cohen, “Mental Gymnastics Increase Bicep Strength,” New Scientist, vol. 172, no. 2318: p. 17 (2001), http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1591-mental-gymnastics-increase-bicep-strength.html#.Ui03PLzk_Vk.

  8. A. Guillot, F. Lebon, D. Rouffet, et al., “Muscular Responses During Motor Imagery as a Function of Muscle Contraction Types,” International Journal of Psychophysiology, vol. 66, no. 1: pp. 18–27 (2007).