Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:18 PM Your medicine works better if you BELIEVE it will, study finds trends now

Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:18 PM Your medicine works better if you BELIEVE it will, study finds trends now
Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:18 PM Your medicine works better if you BELIEVE it will, study finds trends now

Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:18 PM Your medicine works better if you BELIEVE it will, study finds trends now

Your medicine works better if you BELIEVE it will, study finds

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Drugs work better if you expect them to, a study suggests.

Patients with appendicitis who believed their antibiotics would work were 'substantially' more likely to see symptoms improve.

Researchers at the University of Washington said it revealed the powers of the mind and the placebo effect.

This is the idea that your brain can convince your body that a treatment is making you feel better.

The state of mind cannot lower your cholesterol or shrink a tumor, as far as scientists know, but it can improve symptoms modulated by the brain, like pain.

The above graph shows the number of operations to remove an appendix after participants received antibiotics. They were split by whether they thought the antibiotics would be unsuccessful (orange), believed they might work (green) or believed they would be completely successful (blue). Results showed those who believed antibiotics would be completely successful were least likely to need an operation to have their appendix removed

The above graph shows the number of operations to remove an appendix after participants received antibiotics. They were split by whether they thought the antibiotics would be unsuccessful (orange), believed they might work (green) or believed they would be completely successful (blue). Results showed those who believed antibiotics would be completely successful were least likely to need an operation to have their appendix removed

For the latest study, researchers looked at 425 participants who were mostly in their thirties between May 2016 and February 2020.

They were recruited from 25 medical centers across the US and were asked to fill out surveys before they were prescribed antibiotics.

They were split into three groups: Those who thought antibiotics would not work, those who thought they may help and those who felt they would be completely successful.

The groups were then monitored for 30 days. 

Results

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