In 1952 Albert Mason was a young anesthetist based at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England. After World War II, the hospital had become a specialist hospital for plastic surgery and birth defects. One day Mason was working with a surgeon on a 15yr old boy who had a severe case of warts. The surgeon he was working with, Dr. Moore, had been upset when the skin graft that he had carried out on the boy had not worked. The boy had been covered in warts with only a bit of clear skin on his chest and in an effort to help, the surgeon had tried to graft a bit of this clear skin onto the boy's hand. The graft only made matters worse.
Mason, whom had previously cured smaller cases of warts with hypnosis, suggested to the surgeon, "Why don't you treat him with hypnotism?" The doctor looked at him pityingly, and said, "Why don't you."
Those 3 words, and this 15yr old boy would forever change Albert Mason's life.
The very next day, Mason said to the boy while under hypnosis,
"The warts will fall off your right arm, and new skin will grow which will be soft and normal".
As you can see in the photo, when the boy returned the next week, the hypnosis had worked. In fact, the change was startling. Mason simply smiled, because he knew the hypnosis was going to work, and maybe wanting to gloat a bit, decided to take the boy to see Dr. Moore who was at the time, performing surgery. They stood behind the glass partition of the operating room, and held up the boys arms so Moore could have a look. The doctor did look, and according to Mason, "His eyes became like saucers". He handed his knife over to his assistant and came out to see the boy closer. His only words were "Good God". Not seeing what the big deal was, Mason told him, "See, I told you hypnosis can cure warts".
Dr. Moore replied, in shock, "Warts? This isn't warts. This boy has Congenital Ichthyosis. He was born with it. It's incurable!"
Mason had performed a miracle. He cured an incurable disease that usually takes the life of it's victim while they are still children. By the way, the little boy he cured, was 67 yrs old and still going strong in 2002. And he still had no trace of the disease.
Mason went on to publish his success in the British Medical Journal of 1952. Afterwards, every patient within a 1,000 mile radius who had the disease was calling Dr Mason for treatment. But strangely enough, he never again had the success that he did with the 15 yr old little boy. Why? He believes it's all due to belief.
Before, he knew he could cure warts. That belief was conveyed - possibly subconsciously - to his patient. They both believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt. And so the cure worked.
Afterwards, he now 'knew' that this wasn't warts, it was a disease that was incurable. He tried pretending, he tried convincing his patient, he tried everything, but in the end, he knew he was just acting. And somehow that 'lie' was also conveyed to his patient. And so there was no cure.
Belief is a powerful force. It can move mountains, and it can cure incurable diseases.
Remember Henry Ford's famous quote:
Whether you think you can, or think you can't............................you're right.
"The surgery was two years ago and the knee never has bothered me since. It's just like my other knee now. I give a whole lot of credit to Dr. Moseley." - Sylvester Colligan
In the Summer of 1994, Sylvester Colligan, a 76-year-old World War II veteran from Beaumont, Tex., underwent Arthroscopic knee surgery to relieve arthritis pain in his knee. Sylvester's surgery was a success and now, years later, he is perfectly healed and walking without any pain whatsoever.
But there is a catch to this story............he never actually had any surgery at all.
He just 'thought' he did.
Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, is the most common form of arthritis, and commonly occurs in the knee. Symptoms include pain, stiffness, and swelling. Treatment typically involves pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs, along with heat-therapy and exercise. When these fail, surgery is often recommended. In the United States, it is estimated that more than 650,000 arthroscopic debridement or lavage procedures are performed each year, many of these for arthritis, at a cost of about $5,000 each.
A typical arthroscopic knee surgery is a two step process, lavage and debridement. Small incisions are made into the knee that allow a small camera to be inserted and allow the surgeon to see the knee joint itself. Then water is used to flush the knee joint of any debris (lavage). Finally, a scraper is used to smooth down any rough cartilage (debridement). The procedure is fairly non-invasive, and generally successful. But it can be quite expensive, even with insurance. And of course there is always a chance of complications.
Dr Bruce Moseley, an Orthopedic surgeon in Houston, Tx was curious which part of the technique was the most effective, the rinsing, or the scraping. Hoping to refine the procedure, he approached a colleague to help him set up a trial. What he was not counting on was his colleague's response: "You need to also account for The Placebo Effect".
Bruce says, "I almost laughed out loud, as all good surgeons know there is no Placebo Effect in surgery" This is common as most people associate a placebo with a pill. Placebo pills have been effective in treating everything from headaches to depression. This is remarkable all by itself because how can a sugar pill cure depression? Because 1) we don't know it's a sugar pill, and 2) we believe it will work. And it does work. In fact, it is just as effective as popular antidepressants. (but that's another story)
So Dr Moseley designed a trial where 180 patients would be put under the knife for arthroscopic knee surgery. They would be divided up into 3 groups. Group 1 would receive just the flushing. Group 2 would receive just the scraping, and group 3 would receive a placebo. In order for the placebo group to be convinced, it would have to look as if they really did have the surgery. So small incisions were made in the knee and then immediately sewed up, while a video tape was played of a previous, real surgery. No other procedure was done to the placebo patients.
The results:
During two years of follow-up, patients in all three groups reported moderate improvements in pain and ability to function. However, neither of the intervention groups reported less pain or better function than the placebo group. Indeed, the placebo patients reported better outcomes than the debridement patients at certain points during follow-up. Throughout the two years, the patients were unaware of whether they had received real or placebo surgery.
And as you can see in the video, Mr Colligan is walking just fine, 6 years later. And Korean War Vet Tim Perez, who used to need a cane to walk, is now playing basketball with his grandchildren.
In this world, anything is possible if you put your mind to it. I know your mind can work miracles. Tim Perez
The Nocebo Effect is simply the opposite of a Placebo, meaning your thoughts have the ability to harm instead of heal. Here is another true story to think about as you go about your day.
In 1974 a man by the name of Sam Londe was diagnosed, by his doctor, as having cancer of the esophagus. He was told that this kind of cancer is a particularly vicious form of cancer and was at the time considered to be 100% fatal. So both his doctor and Sam knew that he would die fairly quickly. And in a few weeks, Sam died. End of story - right? Read on.
An autopsy found that Sam did not have cancer.
They did find a couple of small spots on his liver and one in the lung, but not the Cancer of the Esophagus they thought he had. And there was no way these small spots of cancer would have killed him. So he died with cancer but not from cancer.
So what did he die of?
Sam thought he would die from cancer.
Everyone around him thought he had cancer and would die. His doctor - ‘the specialist’ - ‘the expert in the white coat’ - had made it very clear he had an extreme form of cancer and would not survive. Sam was surrounded by negative beliefs - especially the belief that he was powerless. And yet…..he did not have cancer. He died from the collective belief that he was going to die of cancer. He died from thoughts.
Most people don’t realize that our positive and negative beliefs impact our health on a cellular level. (see Epigenetics, or Dr Bruce Lipton’s book, The Biology of Belief) And beliefs do not just affect our health, but also our relationships, our careers, and even our general happiness. Your Beliefs are filters that affect how you see yourself and the world. More importantly, at a cellular level, what you believe is communicated and transmitted throughout your body - physically! But you already knew this - didn’t you?
Fight or Flight
Think about a time when you felt really down and depressed. What physical effect did that have on you at the time? Were you vibrant and dynamic? Or were you lethargic, slow, tense, or “uptight”?
Or remember a time when you believed you heard a prowler in the house. You were afraid, right? When you perceive a threat or danger, your body will automatically kick in a survival mechanism called the fight or flight response. Now realize these are biological, chemical, and physical reactions that your body will go through - all in response to a perceived threat….or a thought.
Adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, your heart starts beating faster, you breathe harder - providing more oxygen to the muscles, blood is diverted away from your digestion, excretion, and reproductive tracts (no time for hanky panky when you’re running for your life!), your pupils dilate, your hair stands on end, your sweat glands increase secretion while your saliva dries up.
Don’t ever think that your thoughts, or your beliefs do not have an effect on your physical body. They do. And they have the power to harm, as in the examples above. But don’t forget, they also have the power to heal. It all depends on your thoughts.
Lessons To Take Away
As you go through your day today, be aware - - - what you think about and focus on has an effect at a deep cellular level.
Thoughts can harm. Not only yourself, but others.
It may seem quite impossible to monitor ALL your thoughts - but try to ignore the negative ones
Or, when you can’t ignore it, try to flip it around to a positive side.
Remember - every cloud has a silver lining. You just have to look for it.
Once you see the positive side, focus on that. Let the negative thoughts roll off your back.
When you encounter problems and resistance, commit yourself to resolution of these problems and focus on positive action you can take to start to resolve them. Then do something about it! Take action!
In an earlier article I have mentioned the ‘Placebo Effect’. The word Placebo is Latin for “I will please”. But did you know Placebo has an evil twin brother? His name is NOCEBO, or Latin for “I will harm”.
A nocebo is the exact opposite of a placebo.
In a 1999 article, Japanese researchers tested 57 high school boys for their sensitivity to allergens. The boys filled out questionnaires about past experiences with plants. Apparently in Japan, a lacquer tree causes the same itchy rash as our own poison ivy or poison oak. After the survey, they narrowed down the boys to those who reported having severe reactions to the plants, and then blindfolded them.
They then brushed one arm with leaves from a lacquer tree, but told the boys they were chestnut tree leaves. No reaction. Then they stroked the other arm with chestnut tree leaves but said they were leaves from a lacquer tree. Within minutes their arms began to react, turning red and developing an itchy rash, even though the leaves were actually from the chestnut tree.
In another experiment, asthmatic patients were given a vapor to breathe. They were told the vapor was a chemical irritant or allergen. Almost 50% of the patients experienced breathing problems, with a dozen developing full-blown attacks. They were then “treated” with medicine and recovered immediately. In actuality, both the “irritant” and the “medicine” was nothing more than nebulized saltwater solution.
The examples purely show the power of belief. Only in these cases, the beliefs had the power to harm. But can you really see any difference between the placebo and the nocebo? I can’t - besides the outcome I mean, one being good and the other bad. Both create their effect through the power of belief, nothing more.
One last story clearly illustrates this concept.
A man was working late one Friday night at a train station after the rest of the crew had gone home. He got stuck in one of the refrigerated box cars and could not get the door open. He figured it was close to freezing in there, so he bundled up the best he could with his light jacket and tried to keep warm. As the night dragged on, his muscles started to shiver uncontrollably and parts of his body became numb. He realized that the chances were slim that anyone would return over the weekend, so he did everything he could to keep warm and stay busy. He eventually began to lose hope and decided to chronicle his experience on the side of a cardboard box. He detailed the whole thing from the beginning. Near the end of his message, his handwriting became nearly illegible as he wrote his final farewell to family and friends. He was found dead the following Monday by the morning crew. The cause of death was determined to be hypothermia.
What’s interesting is, the investigation revealed that the refrigeration unit in the boxcar he was in was actually not working. The temperature in that car reached a low of about 65 degrees. It was chilly but nowhere near freezing. He had killed himself with his own thoughts.
As I read over this before publishing, I can only think of one other phenomena that has this kind of power in the body. Can you guess what it is? I’ll save the answer for a later post. Until then, keep this famous quote in mind:
According to your faith be it unto you - Matthew 9:29
Placebo
