A placebo is something that has an effect for no known reason and therefore the effect is attributed to a belief rather than any intervention.  For a more detailed explanation and explosion of the placebo effect click here.

Placebos have been around for a long time and the namw comes from the stem word to 'placate' meaning to soothe or please.

In the USA placebo operations were carried on on patients with Osteoarthriis of the knee.  The result showed that there was no difference even after 12 months between the improvement of  the genuine op and the placebo op wheras the control group who did not have any kind of operation did not improve and deteriorated post the experiment.  The placebo op was a nick in the knee and conversation in the theatre that would be similar to a normal operation. See report here

The colour of the tablet is carefully considered by pharmaceutical companies.  Research has shown that the correctly chosen colour can enhance the effectiveness of the medication.

As more and more evidence comes in to show that our thoughts have a profound effect on our bodies.  So then you would think that we should all be able to think ourselves healthy  ... but it's not that simple.  The subjects of the placebo effect are not thinking themselves well, they are believing themselves well and that's hard to manufacture.  We rarely have any control over it.  It's just one of those thoughts that we don't even know we are thinking.

In this country it is considered bad form for the NHS to make use of placebo but that doesn't stop the placebo working the other way.  How easy is it to form a belief when you have the word of a professional i.e. "You have arthritis and will need a replacement knee wthin 5 years", "You have congenital heart problems in your family we will have to keep a regular check on your heart function".  Two potential negative placebos are instantly in place in those examples. We shouldn't just blame the doctors though, you know yourself that we all have a little hypnochondria in us and to some extent when we read/hear about symptoms can recognise them in ourselves. 

It is and has been said by some very prominent people that anything you can image you can have and unfortunately that works for the negative things too.

Do you know what you are thinking?

Well considering we have an estimated average of 15,000 thoughts per day - that's 10 per minute, every minute of the day and night, it's probably fair to say that for most of the time you do not know what you are thinking.

Many thoughts are going to be reinforcing your beliefs so for the knee patients from the experiment they would be regularly telling themselves that the operation had improved their knee and it was cleaned out and getting better.  They would feel the emotional relief  of the promise of less from the pain.  A belief that they weren't really aware of but just accept.

Out of those 15,000 thoughts at least 1/2 are said to be negative.  That's an awful lot of negativity that you are absorbing without even knowing it for most of the time.  So it's not unreasonable to think that if your positive beliefs can make you better then your negative ones can make you ill.

Research into quatum physics is now beginning to show that our thoughts have influences and effects that we never even dreamed of not only on ourselves but also on the biosphere around us.  Therefore our thoughts can effect others and the world we live in.  But the first stop for our thoughts is our body.

So does positive thinking work?

There are many books around on the power of positive thinking and plenty of best sellers on the subject to and while a positive is better than a negative one, it would be impossible to use positive affirmations to replace all those negative thoughts that are working away in the background of your mind.

Some of the negative thoughts are worries and those are more noticable so that you can start to change things by being vigilant and learning to rationalise your thought processes in order to eventually worry less.  It's a lot easier to just carry on worrying though.

Spiritual beliefs are much deeper than positive thoughts.  Even unrealistic or unreasonable beliefs.  Ingrained beliefs from the past that are not really relevant or sensible are also difficult to overcome unless you stop and rethink them each time they pop up i.e. it is wasteful to not empty your plate.- but worse - you will never get anywhere with your attitude etc. etc.

Creating the positive belief in the face of all the implanted negatives is serious business.

Being more consicous of the words you are using for both internal and external communication can be a useful start towards beginning to chance the way you think.  See here for free offer

If you saw a hyperdermic needle and someone told you they were going to inject you with a miracle cure for tiredness or depression or the common cold and you saw them preparing the injection, then you were asked to look away and you felt a pin prick or a hair on your arm being pulled then you would probably believe you had the injection.  What'smore you would probably notice that you were less tired or more cheerful or brushed off your colds more easily.  Just because you had reasonable evidence to support the fact that you had the injection.

Hypnotherapy is able to get beyond your doubt and  create a new thought, which if congruent with your desires will begin to act like a belief at least temporarily.  So for instance you would not need to go to the trouble of arranging a hyperdermic needle for hypnotic suggestion to give you the belief that you were feeling more energetic, more cheerful or less susceptible to colds.

Using self-hypnosis can also help to change a desire into a belief.  Check out our new self-hypnosis course starting soon.

This is good but the trouble is that often the underlying belief doesn't want to go away.  It's being occupying your mind for a while and doesn't want to give up, so it can be a long process to persuade and encourage your negative thoughts to let go.

For a million corrupt and faulty reasons negative thoughts, beliefs and influences will not give up.  Many people are aware of them but just don't know what to do about them.  People are left feeling less than they could be, unfulfilled and if not miserable at least tense and mildly suffering.  Some people who are basically positive tend to put a brave face on it and try to ignore this, others find ways to divert their attention from it often never being able to relax and always having to be busy doing something. You can see how all this effort creates an emotional conflict and over a period of time that internal unrest and underlying negativity is going to show up in physical symptoms.

Resolving these deep routed negative beliefs is a skilled job and rarely one that can be done without professional help.  Hypnoanalysis can set you free from this negative entrapment.

Tablets that mask the symptoms (that need attention) tend to work for a while but will eventaully throw out more symptoms needing more medication until you are taking medication purely to conteract the effects of the medication you are taking.

We are not yet developed enough to use the great potential of our mind to fully treat our health but I believe we are at the dawning of a new era where we will start to take more responsiblity for our health care and expect a naturally healthy life.

However, working on yourself and using several methods to create a more positve mind set is always helpful until that time comes.

Here are a few suggestions from the thousands of ideas out there:

• Look up towards the ceiling or sky when you're feeling down - it will lift your spirits..
• Try chanting a positive affirmation each monring before you start your day.
• Use time in the car (especially in jams) to affirm your calmness/positivity/enthusiasm/professionalism
• Don't worry about things you have no influence over - it will happen or it won't - worrying about it will only make any potential outcome worse.
• Think of the good things you have done
• Don't expect too much of yourself and acknowledge your efforts
• Smile at people that you don't know - make someones day.
• Laugh at your problems or worries

Please feel free to add your own comments and suggestions below.

Did you know that placebos can also have a negative effect resulting in the recipient experiencig negative symptoms - know as a nocebo.

 

 

 

  People are coming into the centre and talking about the books they are going to read over Christmas so we thought it would be a fun idea to find out what other people are reading.

You never know it may inspire others to read the book too.

So for our latest competition we are giving a prize for the most interesting or inspiring comments.  The prize will be that we will choose a book for you from our books on sale.  We will use your comments to pick something that we feel matches the things you look for in a book.  All you have to do is pop in and collect it.

 

I'll start!

I will be reading

'The Spontaneous Healing of Belief' Shattering the paradign of False Limits by Gregg Braden.  I was attracted to this book because it is about quatum physics.  The author is a scientist and novelist who specialises in writing books that the average Joe Public can understand.  After seeing the film 'The matrix' I have always been fascinated by the possiblities.   The book is said to be showing evidence that dispells many myths and proves that heart felt beliefs can effect everything from the healing of our bodies to the atoms we are surrounded by.  It proffers that our thoughts can change reality.  Well how will I know?  I am really excited by this book I have discovered.

'Doppler' An Elk is for Life - not just for Christmas by Erlend Lee -  it says on the back cover that is is a deeply subversive fable about consummerism. existence and a baby elk called Bongo.  Sounds a bit whacky to me - right up my street.  What better time to read a fable than Christmas and it is a norwegian novel translated into English.   I am looking froward to a bit of quirkiness. Often foreign books give a new slant on life  - we will see. The fly sheet says that it is compelling and perceptive.  It also says that it's gentle approach looks at some of the harsher aspects of life.

'Snow Drops' by A D Miller.  This is the fictional story of British Lawyer living in Russia.  He find the disregard for human poverity, homeless people who are left to die in the snow, off the wall night clubs and corruption in high places begins to corrupt him and his vision of life.  Led and encouraged by  his relationship with an enigmatic local he begins to lose sight of who he is.   I enjoy reading about other peoples experiences - even if it is only fiction.

 

 

 

D

Do you remember or do you find that you are often searching for words that you know but are forgetting for the moment?  If so you are likey to be at least 30 and have probably seen an increase in this type of forgetfulness as the post 30 years progress. 

I've often heard it referred to as a senior moment!

It doesn't bother you much when it is infrequent and it can be laughed off as over loaded with things to thiink about, too much stress and such like.

Do you tartle?  If you hesitate when introducing someone because you have forgotten their name you would be tartling if you lived in Scotland.  It's probably a good way to refer to it - tartling sounds quite interesting and is not readily associated with aging or loosing your memory.  It seems to put a more positive slant on it.

We are all fearful of the big 'D' word - dementia, which could be perceived to be a total loss of control of the mind or indeed loss of the mind itself. 

Where dementia is not fully understood, memory loss associated with age is.

As we get older we notice physiological changes, for instance, we cannot do as much as we used to, our muscles don't recover as quickly from damage, we tire more quickly - that is also relevant to our brain and mental faculties.  Whilst it's not really a problem, there are things we can do to help slow it down.  Let's first understand some of the situation that arise with age.

The part pf the brain that deals with memory deteriorates with age.

Hormones and proteins that protect and repair brain and nerve cells are not as active with age.

Bllod flow is often not a good as you get older and this can also affect the memoru.

You do not absorb nutrients as easily as you get older and therefore your brain isn't getting as much food as it used to and more is passing straight through.

Knowledge is great because no we understand it is a bit more obvious about some of the things you can do to help.

• Exercise regularly to increase the flow of blood around your system and in turn to your brain and the side benefit is that if you exercise and bring up you pulse rate it will also help to scrap the cholesterol from the lining of your blood vessels..
• Take digestive enzymes but don't just go and buy any old thing make sure your are taking the right ones, there are different digestive enzymes for different nutrient absorbtion and different ways to take them for best benefit.  Ask us.
• Sleep well.
• Keep socialising and keep life fun
• Laugh
• Eat the right kinds of foods and stay off the unhealthy stuff, even more important for lots of reason as you get older.
• Do something about your stress levels if you get overwrought with worries.  Cortisol, relaeased with stress, damages the brain over time.
• Quit smoking NOW, one of the main  reasons for low blood to the brain and artery problems.
• Take walks in the countryside and get with the green, look up at the sky and soak in the blue.
• Keep your brain active with puzzles and problems solving.
• Keep a good blance between relaxing and keeping busy.
• Learn something new like a language or a hobby.
• Always have a project and something to look forward to.
• Don't drink alcholol to excess.
• Get organised and write things down.

Please add your own suggestions or comments.

 

 

If you are thinking of going to your Halloween Party later this month as a  Vestal Virgin, then  it would be prudent to  ensure the string or garlic is well embedded around your neck.

Peter Pan would be equally dangerous as it turns out that those vampires were not far off the mark and  the fountain of youth may be closer than you think

Research at Havard has shown that injecting  (mind you not drinking) the blood of young mice significantly improved the status of very old mice. It seems that it works on the brain mainly and was found whilst trying to find a cure for Alzheimers.  The belief is that if the Alzheimers can be caught early enough it can be stopped.

Of course, this age old fascination with taking blood from the young has been tried many times before and hence the vampire stories.  One man notoriously injected himself with the blood from virgins but found no improvement.

However, turns out  he wasn’t quite  dedicated enough and to be effective needs 5% off blood being replaced with  ‘young blood’ 8 times over the course of a month.  Not only can Alzheimers  be halted but the memory and mind can become sharper too.

But if it is all in the mind then is this going to be the next big development in hypnotherapy - similar to the gastric band  therapy for weight loss?

Many implications spring to mind for a real live process - will people have more children to ensure that they have a constant supply of fresh young blood as they age? Will students be selling their blood to pay their college fees?

We await  more news.

Andrea Lowe

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/10/young-blood-reverses-signs-aging/58079/

Eating an apple a day might in fact help keep the cardiologist away, new research suggests.

A study in Ohio funded by the apple industry has been said to show remarkable results which seem to indicate that eating an apple each day for just one month lowered the levels of a substance linked to hardening of the arteries by 40%.  the study subjects were healthy middle aged adults. 

As this research is not totally independant, being funded by the apple industry, it is worth keeping an eye on any further findings.  However, there can only be positive results from eating an apple each day so it is worth giving it a go - one of your five a day - but make sure you do rest on your laurels and take3 other preventative measures too.

Apples currently are quite expensive and the supermarkets are now offeering inferior brands that are not quite so tasty and a few years ago would have been rejected - so they can offer a cheaper option.

Before erating apples that are not organic it is worth soaking them in a bowl of water with a tablespoon of cidar vinegar.  Let them soak for a while and then wipe them dry carefully with a tea towel.  This will help to remove some of the chemicals on the apple skins.

Read more about this research here

There are many ways to give yourself a break and there are many types of break you can benefit from. here are some ideas:

• Physical Break
• Mental Break
• Emotional Break
• Responsibility Break
• Technology Break
• Health and Well Being Break

We thought we would give you the opportunity to come up with some great ideas for giving yourself a break - any kind of break.  We're aiming to get at least 100 ideas and the most creative, enjoyable and accessible idea will get a prize.  So too will the 100th suggestion. Responses to a suggestions i.e. support for will influence the judging so feel free to comment on posted suggestions.

Just a sentence will do or if you have a heart warming story that illustrates your suggestion go for that too. 

We're eager ready and waiting so go ahead and share your knowledge.  Only we will know your email address which we will need in case you win and we do monitor all responses to prevent unwanted spammers.

Get a prize for the best suggestion (add as many as you like) and a prize for the 100th suggestion too.

First choice goes to the best suggestion.  Closing date - halloween!  Prizes to choose from  include:

• A Laughter Workshop for you and up to 10 friends (T & C apply)
• Your choice from a selection of books
• An Aqua Detox
• A tootsie Treats foot spa and electronic infra red massage