“Doctor You – Revealing the science of self-healing” was written by Oxford academic Dr Jeremy Howick.
The author’s starting point is that many medical trials have shown that placebos can be as effective as some drugs. Amazingly, there’s even been a trial showing that ‘Placebo surgery’ on knees and spine can be as effective as real surgery. (They give anaesthetic and make a cut and tap the bone, but don’t actually operate!)
So, as the body seems capable in some circumstances of healing itself, he explores how we can get into this state, that is to get a placebo effect, without actually having the placebo.
Some interesting observations by Doctor Howick, based on his researches:
· The attitude of your doctor makes a difference to your recovery.
· Mindfulness/Relaxation/Yoga are similar: long slow breathing causes other parts of the body to relax.
· Positive thoughts are helpful to recovery, so get rid of negative thoughts as these are unhelpful.
· Give yourself positive rewards for your achievements
· Brain changes can happen within months.
For me, it reinforces all those messages about healing being partly in the mind, and being helped by positive thinking, yoga, meditation, and so on. Many books state that this state of mind is important to recovery, so it’s good to find an authoritative source, based on real evidence.