Originally Posted by Tupelo3

You may be interested in an article I posted a year or so ago:

Some practitioners dismiss the placebo effect as irrelevant. Others blame it on neurosis. But scientists are increasingly recognizing the placebo response as an authentic neurochemical reaction in the brain. In the past decade, imaging studies have opened up the possibility that scientists will soon understand the mysterious phenomenon and even harness it in clinical practice — unleashing the power of, well, nothing. The new evidence has established that placebos trigger the brain’s “internal pharmacy” — in essence, a warehouse perpetually stocked to deliver active drugs to itself. In addition to improving Parkinson’s symptoms, that same inner pharmacy can affect conditions like pain, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, schizophrenia and more. As the placebo effect emerges from a long history in the shadows, the new question is: How can we use this age-old brain trick to our advantage? or as long as medicine has existed, the placebo effect has been quietly playing a role in treatment.



http://www.erikvance.com/why-nothing-works/