Few people would disagree with me if I said “The human brain is astonishing.” But, we seem to take that fact for granted. We normally don”t stop to consider just how amazing our brain is, especially compared to the brains of all other animals on the planet. Consider the brain of man, compared to a chimpanzee. The chimp is normally considered the second smartest primate, next to man. Generally speaking, the human brain has 10 billion neurons. The chimp brain has about 1 billion.
Further, it can be said that the chimp has a “radio” brain, while man has a “television set” brain. Chimps are not capable of image retention, which would allow them to project a mental picture. We humans, on the other hand, can screen any movie we want, any time, in our mental theater.
The capacity of the human brain makes it capable of doing things for us that literally seem miraculous. For example, our brain gives us the mind power to potentially heal our own body, or conversely, make our self sick. Consider the strange case of a man named Wright. In the mid-1950s he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He had tumors the size of oranges in his body.
His doctors told him they were going to treat him with a new, experimental cancer drug called Krebiozen. On the day of his first injection he was bedridden and his breathing was labored. Three days later he was up walking around the hospital unit and his tumors had shrunk in half. After 10 days of treatment, he was sent home. Other patients who had received Krebiozen showed no improvement at all.
Wright saw a news report about the failure of Krebiozen. He soon suffered a recurrence of his cancer. The doctors could not understand his sudden relapse. They decided to try something. They told Mr. Wright that a new and improved Krebiozen was arriving the next day and he could be treated with it immediately. Wright”s spirits changed with just the news of the new drug. In reality, there wasn”t a new drug. The doctors gave Wright a shot the next day with a placebo that didn”t even contain the original Krebiozen.
Once again Wright”s cancer went into remission. He remained healthy for the next few months until he read a report that said Krebiozen had been determined to be worthless. Just days later, Wright died of cancer.
A recent report about doctors prescribing placebos stated that “58 percent said they prescribe placebo treatments regularly, and 62 percent believe it is ethically acceptable.” I think the more interesting poll would be to find out what percentage of the general public, excluding doctors, would consider placebo prescribing an ethical course of medical treatment.
My initial reaction to the report was that prescribing placebos should not be allowed. But, then I read about Mr. Wright and a 26-year-old female with horrible panic attacks. She couldn”t make herself “just relax,” like her doctor instructed her. He wound up prescribing a placebo and she was soon cured of the panic attacks.
I have adjusted my thinking. As I see it, my doctor has two responsibilities to me. Even though it isn”t in the Hippocratic Oath like many believe, he needs to “First, do no harm.” After that, he needs to do everything in his power to heal me and keep me healthy. I certainly see no harm if my doctor is able to save or prolong my life with the use of a sugar pill that contains no real medication.
Placebo researcher Michael Jospe said, “You”ve got to be there on the oncology ward and see how suffering people get so demanding of drugs that might be extremely harmful to them.” He says it is more about a “supportive doctor-patient relationship” than it is about “ripping off the patient.”
It”s actually a great doctor who can heal or improve a patient”s condition by using the patient”s mind power and rely less on strong drugs with bad side effects.
Gary Dickson is the editor and publisher of the Record-Bee. Contact him at gdickson@record-bee.com or 263-5636 ext. 24.
