pondering on the placebo effect...

The placebo effect was first mentioned in clinical trials as the baseline effect of healing which may occur just by taking a pill.  It has been found that the very look of the pill, including for example colour may affect how effective it is at supporting healing (Heller et al, 2005, pp.144-148).  The word ‘placebo’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘it pleases’.   The idea is that just by taking something that looks like medicine, the belief can help someone to get better.  There is a converse to this idea:  the ‘nocibo’ (meaning ‘it harms’) – which might be exemplified by the classic African witch doctor causing someone to believe they will die, and dying, apparently just by the belief (Evans Pritchard, 1937).

The tendency is for orthodox medicine to dismiss the placebo effect as something unimportant.  And Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAMs) have been dismissed as just placebos.  Some CAM therapists may rejoin by making the point that if a placebo can have some power, would it not be worth exploring this further.  Having said this, most CAM therapists think there is more going on with their treatment than just the belief that it may have an effect.

There was a dramatic study conducted in Texas where conventional doctors gave sham surgery to people with serious knee problems, and concluded that the significant improvements in all participants (operated and sham operated) were all placebo effect (Moseley et al 2002 and BBC2 and Open University 2006).  Interestingly, medical doctors themselves who conduct these operations have often said that they do not know why they work (e.g. Colquhoun, 2006).
 Davidson (2010, personal communication) asserted that shiatsu is more than placebo because the actual touch is inevitably having an effect, which seems plausible to me.  Brown (2012) suggests that shiatsu acts as a catalyst for self-healing, which also seems plausible to me.  I’m not sure how to disentangle these and whether, in a way, it matters.  What do you think?

  

BBC2 and The Open University (2006) ‘Healing’ 31^st January, presented by Kathy Sykes.

Brown, T (2012) ‘Chair’s report’ Shiatsu Society Journal, Spring, issue 121.

Colquhoun, D (2006) ‘Improbable Science’ blog, [date accessed 9^th April 2012].

Evans Pritchard, E E (1937) ‘Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande’, The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Heller, T, Heller, D, and Yamey, G (2005) ‘A critical look at orthodox medical approaches’ in Lee-Treweek, G, Heller, T, MacQueen, H, Stone, J and Spurr, S, Abingdon, The Open University/Routledge.

Moseley, J. B, O'Malley, K, Petersen, N J., Menke, T J., Brody, B A., Kuykendall, D H, Hollingsworth, J C, Ashton, C M, and Wray, N P. (2002) ‘A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee’ N Engl J Med, 347, pp. 81-88.

Guardian Open Weekend and Twitter

So, as a committed Guardian-phile, I attended the Open Weekend at Kings Place (their 'new'(ish) home just behind Kings Cross station) 10 days ago.  I was drawn to attend two sessions on Twitter - one on how to do it, and another discussing how Twitter might be a 'tool of the elite'.  The 'how to' session went a bit quick for me - I hadn't even got my iPhone tuned up, before they whizzed off - nevertheless, it was an interesting session, and good to get the two facilitators' (Jonathan Haynes and someone else whose name I have unfortunately temporarily forgotten) views.  I remember being struck by Jonathan saying how he found Twitter enabled him to have the odd chat with e.g. celebrities who he would not normally come across.  Sunday morning I managed to get there on time, despite my train getting delayed (what's new on a Sunday) and facilitated by a taxi [phew] - for the discussion, including Suzanne Moore, Jonathan Haynes (again), and a couple of others - they must have started early in introducing themselves if they did.  I was amused by Suzanne saying how useful Twitter was to find someone to help with her child's physic homework; someone else pointed out that her experience was probably due to her 'known-ness' along with c 16000 followers, or however many there are.  Thus, illustrating the topic of the discussion.  Food for thought for me.  I also remember Jonathan talking about how it can take a while to 'get' Twitter, and I feel a bit more au fait with this now.  Such an interesting, stimulating weekend - and clever to organise such beautiful weather of course.  A mate showed up, and showed me the nearby canal - quite a different flavour to York Way and all that.  Thanks, Tammy!

using social media

As a rather floundering 'digital immigrant' as they (? the OU, and no doubt others) say, I find myself somewhat curious about the use of Social Media.  Impressed by the Archers use of Tom's Piggy football (is it really there? - must Google after this post) (and, yes, the Archers was set up to educate), among other things, it's clearly a powerful medium, and naturally I would like to harness it in useful, benign/ win-win kind of way.

As part of this curiosity, last year, in my role as a director of the Shiatsu Society, I was able to invite Wendy Francis, shiatsu/ acupuncture practitioner, as well as IT expert, to run a session as part of our annual Congress.  Although the session was relatively poorly attended (shiatsu folk are not generally that interested in this kind of thing - they want to get on with giving shiatsu), I argue that there was a quality of presence - well, me, of course, but also interestingly, our eminent presenter, Ohashi, (flown in from New York, originally from Japan, and who taught many of our now-eminent teachers in the early days) came along to the session.

Monday I managed to have a session with Wendy, and she helped me take forward a few aspects with regard to my use of social media, and on the back of that I have now booked six sessions at monthly intervals.  I do this because it is important for my business, but also because it has a sense of fun and excitement to it for me.  Wendy helped me do a little duck logo for my email signoff, to link to this blog, for example, wonderful!  You can find Wendy via http://www.creativeconnections.co.uk/ if you would like to ask if she can help you too.

so, I'm excited about taking this forward - what would 'piggy football' look like in the shiatsu world, or for inviting people to participate in the Transformation Game?

- watch this space.
cheers, c.

I love my iPad

so as a friend put it, I have 'With one bound, ... leapfrogged into high coolness. How wonderful that must feel:- )'
I can't quite remember why I went for it in the end - ah, yes, I remember now - I'm slightly embarrassed to say, since I claim not to go for 'deals' - but my paper Guardian (also a deal) told me I had free Guardian iPad for 3 months - and this catalysed me to 'got for it' - along with the fact that Graham Wakley, who has been helping me out with my IT was around to help me figure out how to get it going... - on top of the set up that Apple usefully do on purchase.

they always ask 'you' what you want to use something you're going to buy, and I don't always know - that's part of the adventure of buying it - when it's new technology like this.  I guess I wanted to see what the Guardian looked like - in fact, a bit of a disappointment because it looked just like the Guardian paper version, not fitting very well into an iPad.  However, I have discovered that the online Guardian itself is quite good, and worth a look - with more of the links to videos etc that I had been expecting of the 'offer'.

apart from that - I find it very handy just to check what email has come in - not necessarily to work on it, because I find the touch pad a bit fiddly to operate. 

- what I have really found useful is the listen again TV - and I have just spent today watching lots of Shirlock - how brilliantly it has been done (thanks, Graham, for the tip).

- I'll report back in a while to say how I'm progressing, and what I have found out as time goes on.

all for now, c.

2012 - Happy New Year

so, the new year begins... I managed to include playing the Transformation Game - a game developed in the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, as a tool for reflection.

I would like to develop my role as supporting others to do this, and propose to invite people to play - good location, delicious food, and pleasant environment.

- let me know if you are someone who would like to do this...

best wishes, Catherine.

getter smarter

well, I finally got myself a smart phone - I'd been wondering about it for a while, but having difficulty deciding on whether to or not, and if so, which one, what contract etc...

iPhone, Android, Blackberry - 3GS, iPhone 4, Desire, Wildfire, Desire S, Incredible, Sensation, Torch - were names buzzing through my head; and then trying to figure out what 'pay as you go' means - didn't seem to quite mean what 'pay as you go' meant to me with my old phone (buy it, pay a tenner from time to time - segued into pay a monthly 'add on' if you want internet access, what about insurance? - if your phone is stolen the thief could run up a £5000 bill for which you would be liable -

I was catalysed by going for a walk in the rain with my old phone, which gave up altogether, losing my old messages, and refusing to take any more calls; and the development of an App by a colleague for a conference with which I was involved.

aaand, I am beginning to get the hang of my new phone - I felt mentally exhausted after I had 'gone for it' - but it is really amazing, - the way the messages come through; the clarity of the sound (very important to me - 3GS was one of only two phones (the other one being the HTC Desire) which Which gave 4 stars to for sound quality); and having email sliding through.

wow.

a bit of summer fun - chi kung and frisbee

Well, it was fun, actually! - even if not super sunny, it was warm enough, and even the occasional rain drops felt quite nice.  We did some do-in and some chi kung walking around the lovely green (if a bit noisy, well this is Milton Keynes) space.  A bit of a chi kung Water stand, and then some frisbee.
fab.
come along
c.