By Alec Hogg
For 15 years I overcame a punishing schedule – early start, late live radio show – by sneaking away for a post-lunch meditation. Benefits that flowed prodded me into a personal quest to learn more about the power of the mind. Including examining numerous examples of what is known as the placebo effect – the ultimate example of “mind over matter.”
One of the best stories about placebos began in 1939 when Italian surgeon David Fieschi invented a technique to help patients suffering from angina. His procedure involved slicing open the chest and tying off a major artery, forcing the other one to pump more blood to the heart. It enjoyed a success rate of over 80% and for almost two decades Fieschi’s invention was practiced all around the world.
But in the late 1950s cardiologists in Seattle and Kansas City proved that it was the patients’ minds, not the procedure, that was actually doing the trick. They divided patients into two groups – one got Fieschi’s artery tying procedure; the other half were immediately closed up again after their chests were opened. The results staggered the medical fraternity: those who got the full monty reported a 73% success rate; but the sham operation patients scored 83%.
Understanding the power of the mind is one of mankind’s final frontiers. It’s a quest we can all contribute towards, just by becoming aware. Socrates told us the unexamined life is not worth living. Quite.
