Is recovery a result of medication?

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Dictionaries define placebo as a substance with no effects that is given to the patient in order to satisfy him or a substance that is given to the patient to please him rather than curing him.

Placebo is also used to find out whether a new drug is successful or not. Some of the patients are given the substance that is claimed to have some effects, and the other patients are given sweetened, colored water or pills that do not contain any drugs. This false drug is called placebo. Placebo is presented in the same package and appearance. The difference is evaluated and whether the new drug is effective or not is tested.

It is remarkable that in many diseases like a headache, sleeplessness, anxiety, various pains, phobia, stress and sea-sickness placebo has been quite effective. It has been observed surprisingly that 6 out of 10 patients with headaches and 6-7 patients who take analgesics have recovered after being given placebos.

Doctors do not want to give sleeping pills to patients who complain about sleeplessness because it can cause addiction.

Instead, they give a placebo and see that it is effective like the other drugs. That is, pills that have no active substance to facilitate sleep can make patents sleep soundly. Of course, if the patient has been convinced that the pill will make him sleep

Sometimes patients who have crises with great stress, headaches, pains etc and who say that when so-and-so is injected they recover come to the emergency service. When they have injected a placebo called serum physiologic by telling them that the so-and-so has been injected, they really recover. The belief of the patient, not the drug overcomes the crisis.

Sometimes we meet patients who say that the drug a certain doctor gave was no good but the drug another doctor gave healed them. When you compare the two drugs you see that both have the same active substance but only their trade names are different.

Many researches have been done on the placebo effect. The belief in the treatment and the will to recover play an important role in success.

The belief in the doctor and the behavior of the nurse that looks after the patient has a great role on the effect of the placebo. For instance when the doctor is a university professor, when the doctor listens to the patient tirelessly and examines the patient with great care and gives him confidence, the success rate of the treatment becomes higher. If the nurse that looks after the patient does not believe in the effect of the placebo, the success rate of the treatment decreases.

The appearance of the placebo pills also has a great effect on the patient. Pills bigger than normal size or tiny pills are more effective than pills of medium size; red, yellow and brown pills are regarded as better than green and blue ones. On the other hand bitter pills and unusual doses – e.g. 9 drops instead of 10 drops a day - are more effective.

It has been shown that the fact that pains and aches disappear suddenly with placebo are not a delusion.

Placebos and other helpful things have measurable effects on the body. The belief in placebo causes the production of relieving substances (like endorphins in the brain).

Since 50-80% of the diseases in the body are regarded to be related to our spiritual system, the widespread effects of the placebos should not surprise us.

The fact that placebos are so effective shows that recovery is not a result of medication but is from Allah. Medication is only a means. If Allah wishes even colored water becomes useful, if He does not, no matter what is done for the patient, it does no good. 

ALLAH Knows Best.