Mel:
Just speculation as we don't have the study available... perhaps the reason
why the results of the CABG and the sham surgery were similar is bacause
both groups were recieving medications, I presume. Other studies have shown
similar outcomes for CABG v. medication alone.
*******************************************************
Douglas M. White, PT, OCS
Physical Therapist, Consultant
191 Blue Hills Parkway
Milton, MA USA 02186
P: 617.696.1974
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http://DouglasWhite.tripod.com
| Geoff Mosley<[log in to unmask]> writes:
|
| << This discussion reminds me of a recent article in the New England
Journal
| of Medicine regarding the use of placebos. After an exhaustive review of
the
| literature it was concluded that placebos really do not have the effects
that
| have traditionally been attributed to them. Instead, it seems that the
| natural progression of the
| patients' condition/disease, which normally follows peaks and valleys of
| improvement and decline, leads to the
| misperception that the placebo (or any ineffective treatment for that
matter)
| has had an effect. >>
|
| *** How does this article explain the results of some bogus surgery on
| cardiac patients? For the moment I cannot locate the actual reference,
but
| it described the use of bypass surgery on one group of patients with a
| matched group of patients who were subjected to a superficial incision of
the
| chest which made it appear as if bypass surgery actually had been
performed.
| The results after the same period of time showed that both groups of
| patients, according to various tests, had recovered to the same extent.
| There is also a considerable body of other evidence that the placebo
effect
| (in a positive and negative sense) does occur in many medical and other
human
| performance situations.
|
| One study, obviously of limited scope, does not necessarily negate all the
| research on placebos which show that mental factors definitely can exert a
| very significant change in physiological status. Would it be possible to
| post some of the more important parts of that article here, so that we can
| see what it actually stated?
|
| Dr Mel C Siff
| Denver, USA
| http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/
|