H1N1 and Placebos

Many of you readers are sure to be concerned about the pandemic of H1N1 "Swine 'Flu." There are many reports of concerns about the H1N1-targeted flu vaccine, how effective it is, when it will become available, who will get it first and how much will it cost. From what we read, the new vaccine cuts at most a day off the recovery time from this strain of the 'flu.

We at Best Placebos, though, are more interested in how placebos performed in those vaccine tests, and what was in them. After all, if the vaccine performs marginally better than the placebos, shouldn't we find the cheapest source of this nearly effective medicine and distribute that as a prophylactic choice?

New! Organic Sucratane

Sucratane, the popular combinatory cure, is going organic: it will now be made of 100% organic beet sugar. Grown on their own carefully monitored fields in Belarus, Sucratane processing has also been streamlined to take as much sugar as possible as quickly as possible for maximum potency. The new process uses no alcohol. With this change, the price will increase some 60%.

Sucratane is often taken with brewer's yeast to enhance digestive ailments.

Water - all it's cracked up to be!

In 1966, Dr. Paul Irena did a study at Johns Hopkins where one class of math students drank nothing but water for a week, while another math class also drank water, but was paid $1 for every glass they drank. A third group was not given advice on what to drink, but was paid anyway. While this was going on, the test scores were being closely monitored in all three groups to see if hydration or monetary compensation had any influence on test scores. The controversial results were that water seemed to improve test scores independent of money. Big business interests seized upon this result as a way to justify not giving raises to improve productivity, but rather "watering down" their staffs.
In 1967, the study was revealed to be a hoax by an overhydrated grad student. Outraged employees demanded higher wages. Water coolers were smashed. A class action suit managed to hush up the whole situation.

What conclusions can we draw from this unhappy situation?

Clearly, we need to be hydrated, but also not to be exploited in the workplace. everyone should have frequent water breaks. But the exact experiment has not been retried due to the sensitive nature of the suit.

Placebos - Which ones are for me?

Science has show over the years the amazing efficacy of Placebo medicines: the power of the mind itself to heal when given permission to do so. Placebos and mild modifiers such as water, apple cider vinegar and baking soda do much to allow the body to heal in situations where the body can be given time to heal.

But not all placebos work in all cases for all people.

That's why you need to discover what your needs are before getting a placebo. Whether it's a sugar pill or a shot of distilled water makes a big difference!

This site will examine procedures for determining which placebo would be the best to meet your needs, as well as a place to post stories about placebo use and abuse.