But then, as now, there were skeptics within the medical community. There was too much enthusiasm to suit some analytical physicians who doubted the procedure deserved such universal acclaim, inasmuch as it had a dubious scientific rationale.
To test the questioned hypothesis, those skeptics designed a research protocol that would be unacceptable under today’s more rigid ethical standards.
They divided surgical candidates into two groups, each equally afflicted with angina.
All subjects were told they were to undergo ligation surgery, and went through identical hospital protocols with only one important difference: One group did have the ligation operation, but the control group was taken into the operating room, anesthetized, and then subjected to a sham operation. Their chests were opened, then closed—nothing else was done.
When they awoke, both groups were told their operations had been successful. To the astonishment of the entire medical community, the surgeons included, both groups reported relief from anginal pain and increased tolerance of exercise.
Amazingly, the group that had undergone the sham surgery fared better than those who had undergone the genuine operation.8, 9 It was the first time medical researchers proved that placebo effect extends to surgery; and, not surprisingly, when word got out, the number of operations plummeted.
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From a new book on Chelation Therapy i just bought
Hilarious – I laughed myself to sleep
Quacks rely on fear factor. Cell death is a natural part of the life cycle. The problem is cell death increases to a threshold point and the quacks label this threshold point Cancer. Deprogramming the Quacks misuse of the placebo effect is paramount.