All Articles by Jennifer Green, MS
Mrs. Green is a freelance health care writer. A former nurse and college professor, she now writes about health care for clients around the world. She's particularly interested in research into the mind-body connection.
Are Placebos A Betrayal?
In recent years, there's been a resurgence of interest in placebos. Not the kind that are used to minimize bias in clinical trials, but the kind that doctors knowingly give to patients.In a recent survey of more than 200 doctors practicing in academic medical centers, 45% reported that they had given placebos to patients in the course of providing clinical care. Nearly all the physicians surveyed agreed with the statement that "placebos have therapeutic effects," and the condition for which they believed placebos offered the most psychological and physiological benefit was pain.
Mozart, MD – Music for the Mind and Body
Music not only soothes the savage beast; it heals the critically ill.A study in Critical Care Medicine evaluated the mechanisms of music-induced relaxation in critically ill patients. The researchers measured blood pressure and heart rate, brain electrical activity, serum levels of stress hormones and cytokines, requirements for sedative drugs, and level of sedation before and after an hour of listening to piano sonatas through headphones.
Mind-Body: We Want Evidence, Don’t We?
I spend my days poring over medical research reports and databases, looking for high-quality evidence to build compelling arguments. And, when it comes to mind-body treatment modalities, I can't find it. I'm not sure I want what it will take to get it, either.I find small studies that lack control groups or testing for statistical significance. I find review articles that end like this: "More trials are needed" or "Future research... must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and reporting of results."
Popular Posts
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- The Science of Stuttering
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Intelligence - Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Is Grief a Mental Illness?
- The Brain's Buying Power
- The Cost of a Good Night's Sleep
- Inside Your Brain on Holiday
- Risk Factors for Recurrence of Depression
- Salvia Divinorum - DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
Future Posts
Latest Posts
- Intelligence – Do You Need it to be Successful?
- A Trip for Terminal Patients
- Memory Ain’t What It Used to Be – And That’s Good for Psychotherapy
- The Science of Stuttering
- Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
- Beer – The Smarter Drink
- Macroeconomics and Suicide
- From Nymphomania to Hypersexuality
- Commitment – It’s the new Love
- Religion and Depression – Cause or Effect?
Comments
- david: I think you did an excellent j
- bikash12: I think you did an excellent j
- Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA: Thank you for your insightful
- Richard Kensinger, MSW: I agree w/ Howard Gardner's pe
- Melbzi: Muso's and smoked pot.I q
- Melbzi: I am 36 and from Melbourne Aus
- CODER: When we get sick, really sick
- Rusti Hauge: I don't see any evidence to th
- david: Fantastic content, being in Pr
- Kevan Henson: Write to me.Kevan Henson
- Kevan Henson: Tbi's are the way of your daug
- Kevan Henson: Tbi's suck because now we are
