Items of Interest February 13, 2012 Issue

Thought and health: seeing the link

Russ Gerber

“Belief and its effect on our health” Huffingtonpost.com. December 22, 2011.

Penny Sarchet doesn’t think of herself as a detective, but she’s been acting like one. She recently received a prize for her science essay on the nocebo effect, one of the winning entries in a writing contest sponsored by the Wellcome Trust in association with The Guardian and The Observer, who have been on the lookout throughout the UK for the next generation of outstanding science writers.

Like any good detective, Sarchet carefully examined the evidence, the scientific research, on nocebos (harmful effects linked to a harmless substance—the opposite of placebo effect). This led her to some compelling observations about the link between a negative mental state and physical suffering.

She saw that in a doctor-patient relationship, the patient’s belief makes a world of difference as to that person’s health. What a doctor says and what the patient believes may be more closely tied to the patient’s outcome than what the doctor does physically.

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