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I’ve been researching how the body can heal itself since my international rowing career was almost destroyed by a series of debilitating allergic reactions. The drugs doctors prescribed didn’t work so as a last resort I accepted my mother’s suggestion to meet an herbal doctor. I didn’t understand how herbs might cure me but I was desperate and willing to try anything. The herbal doctor suggested that I keep my head and neck warm, and that I drink ginger tea. To my great surprise, it worked. Dramatically. I was still skeptical. How could I be sure that the ginger tea had worked? Could my allergies have disappeared spontaneously? Or did it work because I believed it might — was it just a placebo? How could I ever know? And if it had worked, did it matter if it was a placebo? This led me on a journey. Inspired by my experiences, my research at the University of Oxford shows those placebos are often as powerful as ‘real’ treatments. I’ve discussed these ideas with the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and the UK Government; they ranked my research as having a high impact. I have conducted studies showing that placebos are often as powerful as ‘real’ treatments, that most doctors prescribe them, and that bias in medical researchmakes these (and other) findings difficult to get across. Unfortunately, the power of your body to heal itself does not get the press it deserves. It is not as profitable as pharmaceutical drugs so it doesn’t get a marketing budget, university researchers write in a way that nobody outside colleagues in their own field understands, and this stuff is sometimes considered unscientific from the standpoint of current medical training paradigms. I have now decided it is time to spread the word about your body’s power to heal itself by launching a website, a monthly newsletter, I’ll be writing a book and you can follow me on Twitterand/or Facebook to receive updates on my research and breakthroughs. Together, let’s build a mainstream understanding of what we are capable of. Let’s Awaken The Placebo Power Which Exists Within Us All |
My Life’s Work
