{"id":2566,"date":"2019-07-12T19:15:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T19:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2021-07-27T07:57:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T07:57:31","slug":"placebo-based-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/healthcare\/placebo-based-medicine","title":{"rendered":"Placebo Based Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alternative medicines \u2013 whether or not called \u2018complementary\u2019 \u2013 are not to be dismissed just for being alternative but to the degree that they are based on placebo-as-a-lie.<\/h3>\n

Placebo >< empathy<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I see a huge difference between both at a conceptual level, transcending terminology. [see: \u201cEmpathy: What it Was, Is and\u2026 Will Be?<\/a>\u201d]<\/p>\n

This text is not about empathy.<\/p>\n

Calling something a lie<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

of course, already shows a negative appreciation. Since it is my appreciation, I cannot but fully agree. So I need to provide some explanation about \u2018placebo-as-a-lie\u2019, don\u2019t I?<\/p>\n

My definition: A lie is a statement of which the bringer knows that this statement is not true, yet he brings it as truthful. He deceives knowingly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fuzziness at the borders: does he really<\/em> know it, or is he, for instance, only almost certain? Or just not certain of the opposite statement? Is he in the possibility to know? Should he be? Has science itself yet evolved so as to really \u2018know\u2019?<\/p>\n

More fuzziness: do some circumstances make the \u2013 maybe only temporary \u2013 administration of a placebo the most humane option, so should one still use a negative term such as \u2018a lie?\u2019 Can a certain culture be more tolerant regarding placebo as a kind of \u2018human contract\u2019 for the good of those who benefit?\u00a0Is there benefit, eventually?<\/p>\n

In all circumstances, I stand by the definition given above. A lie may seem most humane. Even so, it\u2019s definitely more humane to achieve\u00a0\u2013 at least \u2013 the same<\/em> effect without<\/em> the lie. That\u2019s one reason to keep thinking.<\/p>\n

Placebo works\u2026<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

or so it seems.<\/p>\n

Can a sugar pill work, except through heightening the level of sugar in your body? I don\u2019t think so. Giving this pill as a \u2018powerful medicine that will cure your sugar-unrelated xxx\u2019 is a lie.<\/p>\n

You may replace sugar with anything that does not or even cannot have the effect of curing xxx.<\/p>\n

Not the placebo works, but what it eventually means to you. The latter is precious. Do you want it to be concealed by a lie?<\/p>\n

Battle of medicines<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So we come to the point that I want to make in this text: alternative medicine is to be avoided inasmuch as it is based on placebo-as-a-lie<\/u>. Taking into account the fuzziness that I described above, I dare anyone who is not with me, to openly discuss this with me \u2018like gentlemen\u2019 (including ladies). [see: \u201cFrom Discussion to Conversation<\/a>\u201d]<\/p>\n

And in one sweep, I augment my statement: regular medicine is to be avoided inasmuch as it is based on placebo-as-a-lie<\/u>. This statement has the same kind of morality. Inasmuch as \u2018regular\u2019 means \u2018scientific,\u2019 this new statement looks like an internal contradiction. Is science not meant to be avoiding any kind of a lie? Is chemical science, for instance, meant to prove something but then not care about it at all? Or any other science?<\/p>\n

Then what about medical science? Is this meant to be a lie or what?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

Any battle between regular and alternative medicine should be replaced by a \u2018battle\u2019 (rather: high-level friendly discussion\/communication) about placebo.<\/p>\n

We know that placebo still makes up a huge part of regular medicine. As I see it, this should be given a lot more attention than is the case.<\/p>\n

Not to attack medical science itself, but to augment it, to make it more worthwhile, to make it even more the best we have to relieve human suffering and to augment human worthiness and happiness and, well, openness and so on [see: \u201cFive Aurelian Values<\/a>\u201d].<\/p>\n

According to me, there is only one decent kind of future.<\/p>\n

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Alternative medicines \u2013 whether or not called \u2018complementary\u2019 \u2013 are not to be dismissed just for being alternative but to the degree that they are based on placebo-as-a-lie. Placebo >< empathy I see a huge difference between both at a conceptual level, transcending terminology. [see: \u201cEmpathy: What it Was, Is and\u2026 Will Be?\u201d] This text Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n

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