Faith in medicine increases its effectiveness

Positive attitude a patient can double the effect of the drugs, while negative to reduce it to zero, the scientists said. Researchers from Oxford and Cambridge and two German universities have made their conclusions based on an innovative experiment to study the role of conscious thought in the perception of pain.

22-m volunteers put on the skin heating device and asked to rate the pain level. Average score on a scale from 0 to 100 was 66. After that, the subject began to enter the painkiller based on opiates. The average score dropped to 55. When subjects were told the experts that they have started to receive a painkiller score dropped to 39. However, when subjects were told that the entry of the painkiller discontinued, although it was not a true evaluation of pain increased again to 64.

At the same time, volunteers monitored the brain activity using MRI. It turned out parts of the brain responsible for pain intensified when people thought that no painkiller, but positive thoughts slowed the activity of these brain regions.

"Physicians should not underestimate the significant impact that the experience of patients may have on treatment outcome," - said the professor who led the study from the Center for Functional MRI of the brain at Oxford University, Irene Tracey.