Prayer and the Placebo Effect?

[ag_NO_stic]

Hello, all! For anyone who's ever wondered why prayer seems to work sometimes but other times not....perhaps consider the placebo effect!

 

For those who are familiar already, you should do some serious research into all that we know about it and how much more we could stand to research it if medical care weren't making some people a lot of money. People have done all kinds of research into this phenomenon and there are all sorts of studies that have shown the human body's capacity and potential to heal itself. For example, we know a simple placebo study, like a sugar pill, will often work on patients who believe it is a medication. There are placebo surgeries that have been done with success. If you tell someone a milkshake is a diet drink to help with weight lost, the gut might respond accordingly, it has worked for pain relief, sleep intervention, depression, etc. The underlying common denominator appears to be just how strongly one believes in it's effectiveness. So a placebo surgery is much more likely to be effective than a sugar pill.  They have even found that placebo works better if the doctor believes in it more!

 

What are your thoughts on this? I think it's interesting that, essentially, if people believe prayer works than it just might! But so will medication or a procedure if one believes in modern medication, essential oils or diet if one believes in wholistic treatments, spiritual practices across the world like crystals, etc.....interesting, right?

[Joshpantera]

Aggy, weighing in on a little S v R posting! 

 

2 hours ago, ag_NO_stic said:

What are your thoughts on this? I think it's interesting that, essentially, if people believe prayer works than it just might! But so will medication or a procedure if one believes in modern medication, essential oils or diet if one believes in wholistic treatments, spiritual practices across the world like crystals, etc.....interesting, right?

 

You've hit the nail on the head. None of this proves christianity right and anything else wrong. So they got nothing if they try and pull that card. At best, it places christianity in line with any number of beliefs that will equally receive the same sort of results. 

 

 

[midniterider]

2 hours ago, ag_NO_stic said:

Hello, all! For anyone who's ever wondered why prayer seems to work sometimes but other times not....perhaps consider the placebo effect! A s

 

For those who are familiar already, you should do some serious research into all that we know about it and how much more we could stand to research it if medical care weren't making some people a lot of money. People have done all kinds of research into this phenomenon and there are all sorts of studies that have shown the human body's capacity and potential to heal itself. For example, we know a simple placebo study, like a sugar pill, will often work on patients who believe it is a medication. There are placebo surgeries that have been done with success. If you tell someone a milkshake is a diet drink to help with weight lost, the gut might respond accordingly, it has worked for pain relief, sleep intervention, depression, etc. The underlying common denominator appears to be just how strongly one believes in it's effectiveness. So a placebo surgery is much more likely to be effective than a sugar pill.  They have even found that placebo works better if the doctor believes in it more!

 

What are your thoughts on this? I think it's interesting that, essentially, if people believe prayer works than it just might! But so will medication or a procedure if one believes in modern medication, essential oils or diet if one believes in wholistic treatments, spiritual practices across the world like crystals, etc.....interesting, right?

 

I find the placebo effect very interesting. Also holistic medicine, spiritual practices, crystals, etc. 

 

Belief works hand in hand with a positive healing attitude....   https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/positive-people-heal-faster-research/6qt0xfiu1

[pantheory]

On 5/10/2022 at 4:45 PM, ag_NO_stic said:

Hello, all! For anyone who's ever wondered why prayer seems to work sometimes but other times not....perhaps consider the placebo effect! A s

 

For those who are familiar already, you should do some serious research into all that we know about it and how much more we could stand to research it if medical care weren't making some people a lot of money. People have done all kinds of research into this phenomenon and there are all sorts of studies that have shown the human body's capacity and potential to heal itself. For example, we know a simple placebo study, like a sugar pill, will often work on patients who believe it is a medication. There are placebo surgeries that have been done with success. If you tell someone a milkshake is a diet drink to help with weight lost, the gut might respond accordingly, it has worked for pain relief, sleep intervention, depression, etc. The underlying common denominator appears to be just how strongly one believes in it's effectiveness. So a placebo surgery is much more likely to be effective than a sugar pill.  They have even found that placebo works better if the doctor believes in it more!

 

What are your thoughts on this? I think it's interesting that, essentially, if people believe prayer works than it just might! But so will medication or a procedure if one believes in modern medication, essential oils or diet if one believes in wholistic treatments, spiritual practices across the world like crystals, etc.....interesting, right?

 

Yeah, I think the placebo effect comes to play sometimes. One's mind comes to play sometimes when belief in a cure of some kind can assist the body toward healing. That is why sugar pills and inerts are used for many drug tests, as a control against a new drug in testing its efficacy. Yes, interesting   And of course some people thinking that prayer can help them,  can occasionally really help themselves via the placebo effect as you suggest. I expect this also applies to the power of positive thinking in making the body feel better or help it heal sometimes.

[ag_NO_stic]

5 hours ago, midniterider said:

 

I find the placebo effect very interesting. Also holistic medicine, spiritual practices, crystals, etc. 

 

Belief works hand in hand with a positive healing attitude....   https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/positive-people-heal-faster-research/6qt0xfiu1

 

Me too, it's fascinating to me. Thanks for the link, checking it out! I wonder why this happens.

 

2 hours ago, pantheory said:

 

Yeah, I think the placebo effect comes to play sometimes. One's mind comes to play sometimes when belief in a cure of some kind can assist the body toward healing. That is why sugar pills and inerts are used for many drug tests, as a control against a new drug in testing its efficacy. Yes, interesting   And of course some people thinking that prayer can help them,  can occasionally really help them via the placebo effect as you suggest. I expect this also relates to the power of positive thinking in making the body feel better sometimes.

 

It's so interesting! Do we know why this phenomenon occurs?! 

[ag_NO_stic]

6 hours ago, Joshpantera said:

Aggy, weighing in on a little S v R posting! 

 

 

You've hit the nail on the head. None of this proves christianity right and anything else wrong. So they got nothing if they try and pull that card. At best, it places christianity in line with any number of beliefs that will equally receive the same sort of results. 

 

 

 

What I find most interesting is the underlying similarity of belief in these cultural examples. It's like how we determine what to believe in, assuming believing in something is healthy? This pursuit of truth? 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

If you weigh out a B12 capsule or tablet, it will weigh in the neighborhood of 500mg.  But there's only 500ug of B12. The remaining ~499.5mg is a filler, usually microcrystalline cellulose, used to make the pill bigger so you will feel like you're getting your money's worth.  

[pantheory]

7 hours ago, ag_NO_stic said:

 

Me too, it's fascinating to me. Thanks for the link, checking it out! I wonder why this happens.

 

It's so interesting! Do we know why this phenomenon occurs?! 

 

Yeah, I think I know why this effect works sometimes. I will quote myself from above.

 

I think "One's mind comes to play sometimes when belief in a cure of some kind, pills or religion, can assist the body toward healing itself. That's why sugar and inert pills are used for controls in many drug tests, as a control against a new drug in testing its efficacy.  One group is given the drug being tested and another group of equal size is given a pill that does nothing. When the results are examined the control group (nothing in the pill), some of the people taking it feel better because of the placebo effect.

 

And I expect this also relates to the power of positive thinking in making the body feel better through the mind, sometimes.

• ag_NO_stic
• 1

•