The Placebo Phenomenon and Well-Being: Notes on the Healing Process as an Evolutionary Adaptive Trait

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter F. Craffert
Keyword(s):  
Healing Process ◽  
Placebo Response ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Faith Healing ◽  
Self Healing ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Nocebo Effect ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Adaptive Trait

Abstract As biopsychosocial beings, humans have developed numerous mechanisms that regulate and sustain life and well-being, one of which is self-healing. The term placebo response, to be understood as a meaning response and self-healing mechanism, refers to an evolutionary adaptive trait that developed as an integral part of human beings as biocultural and socially embodied beings in search of ways of overcoming assaults on wellness. As embodied beings humans function as biopsychosocial organisms where body, culture and society interact in order to bring about well-being. The placebo response is one such response by the organism and can have positive or negative effects on the organism. When the organismic response to assaults on well-being facilitates positive outcomes such as healing and well-being, it is called the placebo effect, and when it operates as a negative force as in producing or enhancing sickness and distress, it is referred to as the nocebo effect. An understanding of these organismic responses is essential for an appreciation of all health care systems and healing modalities, and consequently, for the evaluation of the efficacy and quality of potential health providers and promoters of well-being. It can also be used to evaluate the potential of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), including faith healing and distant healing. Ultimately, an appreciation of the organismic response to bring about either the placebo or nocebo effect provides insight into who and what we are as human beings.

Concepts and Principles of Integrative Nursing

2014 ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Koithan
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Practice ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Therapeutic Modalities ◽  
Innate Capacity ◽  
Healing Relationships ◽  
Health And Well Being

Integrative nursing is a way of being-knowing-doing that advances the health and well-being of persons, families, and communities through caring/healing relationships. Six principles of integrative nursing are described: Human beings are inseparable from their environments; human beings have the innate capacity for health and well-being; nature has healing and restorative properties that contribute to health and well-being; integrative nursing is person-centered and relationship-based; integrative nursing practice is informed by evidence and uses the full range of therapeutic modalities to support/augment the healing process, moving from least intensive/invasive to more, depending on need and context; and integrative nursing focuses on the health and well-being of caregivers as well as those they serve.

scholarly journals Spirituality: an overlooked predictor of placebo effects?

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1572) ◽  
pp. 1838-1848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola Kohls ◽  
Sebastian Sauer ◽  
Martin Offenbächer ◽  
James Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Placebo Response ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Self Healing ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Effects Assessment

Empirical findings have identified spirituality as a potential health resource. Whereas older research has associated such effects with the social component of religion, newer conceptualizations propose that spiritual experiences and the intrapersonal effects that are facilitated by regular spiritual practice might be pivotal to understanding potential salutogenesis. Ongoing studies suggest that spiritual experiences and practices involve a variety of neural systems that may facilitate neural ‘top-down’ effects that are comparable if not identical to those engaged in placebo responses. As meaningfulness seems to be both a hallmark of spirituality and placebo reactions, it may be regarded as an overarching psychological concept that is important to engaging and facilitating psychophysiological mechanisms that are involved in health-related effects. Empirical evidence suggests that spirituality may under certain conditions be a predictor of placebo response and effects. Assessment of patients' spirituality and making use of various resources to accommodate patients' spiritual needs reflect our most current understanding of the physiological, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of spirituality, and may also increase the likelihood of eliciting self-healing processes. We advocate the position that a research agenda addressing responses and effects of both placebo and spirituality could therefore be (i) synergistic, (ii) valuable to each phenomenon on its own, and (iii) contributory to an extended placebo paradigm that is centred around the concept of meaningfulness.

scholarly journals Self-Healable Biocomposites Crosslinked with a Combination of Silica and Quercetin

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4028
Author(s):  
Olga Olejnik ◽  
Anna Masek ◽  
Małgorzata Iwona Szynkowska-Jóźwik
Keyword(s):  
Natural Rubber ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Crosslinking Density ◽  
Mechanical Tests ◽  
Epoxidized Natural Rubber ◽  
Self Healing ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Healing Efficiency ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

In this publication, novel bio-based composites made of epoxidized natural rubber with 50 mol% of epoxidation (ENR-50) are presented. The obtained materials, partially cured with a totally environmentally friendly crosslinking system consisting of natural ingredients, including quercetin and silica, exhibit a self-healing ability resulting from the self-adhesion of ENR-50 and reversible physical forces between the curing agent and the matrix. The impact of natural components on the crosslinking effect in uncured ENR-50 matrix was analyzed based on rheometric measurements, mechanical tests and crosslinking density. The partially crosslinked samples were next cut into two separate pieces, which were instantly contacted together under a small manual press, left at room temperature for a few days for the healing process to occur and finally retested. The healing efficiency was estimated by measuring mechanical properties before and after the healing process and was also confirmed by photos taken using optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM). According to the results, a combination of silica and quercetin is a totally safe, natural and effective crosslinking system dedicated to epoxidized natural rubber. The novel composites containing ingredients safe for human beings exhibit promising self-healing properties with a healing efficiency of up to 45% without any external stimuli and stand a chance of becoming innovative biomedical materials.

Persons Together

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Market Relations ◽  
The Image Of God

This chapter moves into the political and economic aspects of human nature. Given scarcity and interdependence, what sense has Judaism made of the material well-being necessary for human flourishing? What are Jewish attitudes toward prosperity, market relations, labor, and leisure? What has Judaism had to say about the political dimensions of human nature? If all humans are made in the image of God, what does that original equality imply for political order, authority, and justice? In what kinds of systems can human beings best flourish? It argues that Jewish tradition shows that we act in conformity with our nature when we elevate, improve, and sanctify it. As co-creators of the world with God, we are not just the sport of our biochemistry. We are persons who can select and choose among the traits that comprise our very own natures, cultivating some and weeding out others.

An Epidemic Avian Influenza Prediction Model Based on Google Trends

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Lu ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Jianying Wang ◽  
Guangya Zhou ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Avian Influenza ◽  
Prediction Model ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
New Model ◽  
Regression Approach

The occurrence of epidemic avian influenza (EAI) not only hinders the development of a country's agricultural economy, but also seriously affects human beings’ life. Recently, the information collected from Google Trends has been increasingly used to predict various epidemics. In this study, using the relevant keywords in Google Trends as well as the multiple linear regression approach, a model was developed to predict the occurrence of epidemic avian influenza. It was demonstrated by rigorous cross-validations that the success rates achieved by the new model were quite high, indicating the predictor will become a very useful tool for hospitals and health providers.

scholarly journals Connecting Climate and Communicable Disease to Penta Helix Using Hierarchical Likelihood Structural Equation Modelling

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 657
Author(s):  
Rezzy Eko Caraka ◽  
Maengseok Noh ◽  
Rung-Ching Chen ◽  
Youngjo Lee ◽  
Prana Ugiana Gio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variables ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Hierarchical Likelihood

Design: Health issues throughout the sustainable development goals have also been integrated into one ultimate goal, which helps to ensure a healthy lifestyle as well as enhances well-being for any and all human beings of all social level. Meanwhile, regarding the clime change, we may take urgent action to its impacts. Purpose: Nowadays, climate change makes it much more difficult to control the pattern of diseases transmitted and sometimes hard to prevent. In line with this, Centres for Disease Control (CDC) Taiwan grouped the spread of disease through its source in the first six main groups. Those are food or waterborne, airborne or droplet, vector-borne, sexually transmitted or blood-borne, contact transmission, and miscellaneous. According to this, academics, government, and the private sector should work together and collaborate to maintain the health issue. This article examines and connects the climate and communicable aspects towards Penta-Helix in Taiwan. Finding: In summary, we have been addressing the knowledge center on the number of private companies throughout the health care sector, the number of healthcare facilities, and the education institutions widely recognized as Penta Helix. In addition, we used hierarchical likelihood structural equation modeling (HSEMs). All the relationship variables among climate, communicable disease, and Penta Helix can be interpreted through the latent variables with GoF 79.24%.

scholarly journals Injectable Self-Healing Adhesive pH-Responsive Hydrogels Accelerate Gastric Hemostasis and Wound Healing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiahui He ◽  
Zixi Zhang ◽  
Yutong Yang ◽  
Fenggang Ren ◽  
Jipeng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wound Healing ◽  
Endoscopic Treatment ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Gelation Time ◽  
Type I ◽  
Self Healing ◽  
Ph Responsive ◽  
Gastric Hemorrhage ◽  
Wound Model ◽  
Arterial Bleeding

AbstractEndoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) are well-established therapeutics for gastrointestinal neoplasias, but complications after EMR/ESD, including bleeding and perforation, result in additional treatment morbidity and even threaten the lives of patients. Thus, designing biomaterials to treat gastric bleeding and wound healing after endoscopic treatment is highly desired and remains a challenge. Herein, a series of injectable pH-responsive self-healing adhesive hydrogels based on acryloyl-6-aminocaproic acid (AA) and AA-g-N-hydroxysuccinimide (AA-NHS) were developed, and their great potential as endoscopic sprayable bioadhesive materials to efficiently stop hemorrhage and promote the wound healing process was further demonstrated in a swine gastric hemorrhage/wound model. The hydrogels showed a suitable gelation time, an autonomous and efficient self-healing capacity, hemostatic properties, and good biocompatibility. With the introduction of AA-NHS as a micro-cross-linker, the hydrogels exhibited enhanced adhesive strength. A swine gastric hemorrhage in vivo model demonstrated that the hydrogels showed good hemostatic performance by stopping acute arterial bleeding and preventing delayed bleeding. A gastric wound model indicated that the hydrogels showed excellent treatment effects with significantly enhanced wound healing with type I collagen deposition, α-SMA expression, and blood vessel formation. These injectable self-healing adhesive hydrogels exhibited great potential to treat gastric wounds after endoscopic treatment.

Planetary Health, Climate Change, and Lifestyle Medicine: Threats and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110081
Author(s):  
Neha Pathak ◽  
Amanda McKinney
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Lifestyle Medicine ◽  
The Face ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Global environmental degradation and climate change threaten the foundation of human health and well-being. In a confluence of crises, the accelerating pace of climate change and other environmental disruptions pose an additional, preventable danger to a global population that is both aging and carrying a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Climate change and environmental disruption function as “threat multipliers,” especially for those with NCDs, worsening the potential health impacts on those with suboptimal health. At the same time, these environmental factors threaten the basic pillars of health and prevention, increasing the risk of developing chronic disease. In the face of these threats, the core competencies of lifestyle medicine (LM) present crucial opportunities to mitigate climate change and human health impacts while also allowing individuals and communities to build resilience. LM health professionals are uniquely positioned to coach patients toward climate-healthy behavior changes that heal both people and the planet.

scholarly journals The Value of Recreational Ecosystem Services in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Muniyandi Balasubramanian
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
National Park ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Consumer Surplus ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Forest Ecosystem Services ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mental Well Being

Forest ecosystem services have played a vital role in human well-being. Particularly, recreational ecosystem services are creating physical and mental well-being for human beings. Therefore, the main objective of the paper is to estimate the economic value of recreational ecosystem services provides by recreational sites such as Nandi Hills and Nagarhole National Park based on the individual travel cost method in Karnataka, India. This study has used a random sampling method for 300 tourist visitors to recreational sites. The present study has also estimated the consumer surplus of the visitors. The results of the study have found that (i) economic value of two creational sites has been estimated at US $323.05 million, (ii) the consumer surplus has been estimated for Nandi Hills at US $7.45 and Nagarhole National Park at US $3.16. The main implication of the study is to design the entry fees for the recreational site and sustainable utilization of recreational ecosystem services for the present and future generations.

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