Memes

There's another patient who didn't get the toe amputation, and gangrene spread to where he lost the entire leg and 80% of his kidney function. This one did not thank acupuncture for his outcome.

This one very famous case of a guy who got very lucky, and ended up alive and uncrippled and didn't have to take time off from perpetual dialysis treatments to smile for magazine covers maybe doesn't represent what generally happens to people in his situation.

the crazy thing about placebo is just how effective it is. because yes, placebo could do that.

we have piles of studies that prove beyond a doubt that placebo can measurably and significantly aid in the healing of physical injuries like broken legs. you don't Even need to believe in it. there's studies where patients are told they're being given a placebo that will do nothing, and they STILL got better faster than the group given nothing.

I specified when it's not placebo and is real. Even in that rare case it wasn't aligning chackras or whatever but served as a surprise remedy to return normal blood circulation. Was it that timely or maybe doctors were too amputation-happy? Either way, not that much mystery, more luck.

Placebo comes when there are claims it treats what's out of it's reach, like cancer, or improves overall quality of life in some mystical way. The worst offence there is cases where patients refuse medications and therapy because they get in a great mood and have some pain relief after a session, like with many other semi-pseudoscientifical treatments. Otherwise it's a nice kind of a physical therapy.