[Sca-cooks] OT - Placebos.

[Rosine]

> Placebos are evil evil things that should be reserved
> for those people who honest to god only THINK
> they are in pain.  Like elderly folks with 'heart conditions'
> that don't show up on cardiac monitoring, etc..  Maybe
> the occasional hypocondriac..

Off the Soapbox,
Vladimir

*engage Grandma Gumsucker voice mode*
   Careful with that generalization button, there sonny... some of us
seniors (I'm 45 now) have legitimate chest pain that doesn't show up on
monitors on command. I know - one killed me at age 39 (doesn't that just
sound dramatic?) I got better, thanks to CPR, a heart injection or two and 5
hours of surgery. And now I'm feisty and mean (except to Adamantius, to whom
I am kind, innocent, guileless and um, whatever else is unfrightening. I
wouldn't want to end up like Olwen... hi Olwen!, btw).

   Seriously, I can see the benefits of placebos, because I know how
powerful suggestion is on one's mind - there's many an account of someone
who didn't experience pain or who cured themselves of a slogging condition
with the aid of a placebo and their belief that it was a miracle drug. I had
one administered while undergoing training for bio-feedback for my heart
condition. It helped stave off the deterioration that finally affected me
years after my projected "death age". That being said, I also think that it
is something that shouldn't be used often and certainly not for something
like traumatic dental pain. Your doctor has to know that you, his patient,
have the ability and willpower to "make it so" ... and dang few casual
healthcare providers (folks you only see sporadically) can properly assess
that.

handing back the soapbox,
Rosine