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Lead story I miss the days when my parents could heal me. While they didn’t literally kiss my boo-boos, they did have a box of colorful bandages that seemed to instantly make a wound hurt less, a way of running their hand down my back that made my stomach settle a little more, and vials of oils that smelled like feeling better. Since then, I’ve understood that the effectiveness of at least some of their healing methods could be chalked up to the placebo effect – something all in the mind that makes you feel better despite being given a “fake” treatment, whether that’s a Band-Aid or sugar pill. But after receiving a pitch from Phil Starks, an evolutionary medicine researcher at Tufts University, I learned that placebos have real biological effects on the body – not because they “work” as promised, but because someone whose authority you trust essentially gives your body permission to heal itself. Yet Starks is deeply troubled by the social aspect of the placebo effect. He finds it both “fascinating and profoundly maddening” that the world is “filled with doctors, advertisements, wellness influencers and elaborate medical rituals,” even as “people are walking around with one of the most powerful healing systems ever documented locked inside them.” How unfortunate, then, that they seem to “reliably access it only when someone in a position of authority gives them permission.” One last note: Our quizmaster, Fritz Holznagel, is on vacation this week, so YOU can be the quizmaster. Write a news-related question for the quiz, based on a story you’ve found interesting, for a chance at glory and a bit of swag. Learn more and submit your question. |
