Cure by Placebo?

A recent survey of roughly 675 doctors from around the country shows that nearly half the doctors in practice tend to prescribe placebos. The placebos they are said to use don’t adhere to the typical definition. A placebo is defined as “a substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine” such as a sugar pill. The practicing doctors have been said to use vitamins, antibiotics and sedatives. These common pills do in fact have a pharmacological effect on the patient’s body, and if misused could have detrimental effects.

To make matters worse, most doctors surveyed describe these placebos to patients as” a medicine not typically used for your condition but might benefit you.” Only 5 percent of these doctors actually introduced the placebo “a placebo.”

For example, syndromes such as fibromyalgia are believed to be phsycosomatic, and patients with such treatments tend to be very difficult to deal with. Out of the doctors surveyed, 24% said that they would be very likely to prescribe a placebo, 34% said moderately likely, 31% said Unlikely and only 10% said not likely.

I find this rather disturbing, that doctors, people you trust with your health, would be likely to prescribe a placebo without your knowledge. I mean, yes, placebos are much more effective if the patient believes they are taking something that will help them, but that only encourages people to believe that they need to take a pill to get better. Personally, I would rather be told that there is nothing the doctor can prescribe, then be given a prescription for a drug that is just a fancy name for Aleve.

A Suggestion for a Pride Campus

School district officials in Chicago have proposed a new type a school, known as the Pride Campus. This school would be a school targeted toward gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual students. The idea of the school is to create an environment where students will not be discriminated against or bullied because of their sexual preference. This school will be open to all students who need a better school environment, who are struggling for academic success.

I have mixed feelings about this idea, and as far as my negative opinion goes, I think its just asking for trouble. If students go to a school like this looking for an escape from discrimination and bullying, what's to say that they wont receive the same treatment from the other kids in their community. Just because they go to a different school doesn't mean that they won't still come in contact with the same kids they're trying to escape. Going to a different school just brings more attention to them, and makes them more susceptible to the bullying their trying to escape.

On the other hand I think that it would provide a better education, because its proven that if a student is free of distractions, they will perform better. There are other schools similar to this already in existence, and these schools boast an average 95% graduation rate. The students at the schools are most often in danger of dropping out, or have already dropped out from their previous schools. The fact that an environment like this can have such a positive affect is a great thing.

Overall, I think that this may be a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. I think that something like this would be much more effective if regular schools were taught to accept people for who they are. I know that something like that is not going to happen all at once, but I think its a good start.