Interrogating the mind's immense power over the body, British neuroscientist Helen Pilcher demonstrates how bleak expectations of medical outcomes or aging can seriously impact well-being in This Book May Cause Side Effects: The Curious and Dangerous Power of the Nocebo Effect, Placebo's Evil Twin.
Pilcher cites peer-reviewed studies to show how exposure to negative medical information--whether through the "intangible internal forces" that shape health or external forces such as social media--can actually make individuals unwell even when there is no physical disease or sickness present. This, she explains, is the "nocebo effect," sharing the example of a patient who, in the 1970s, was diagnosed with advanced cancer and died shortly thereafter. However, the diagnosis was found to be incorrect, so it wasn't cancer that killed him. Rather, he died from "believing he had cancer."
More recently, in an experiment by Ellen Langer, type 2 diabetes patients consumed low-sugar drinks misleadingly labeled as high sugar. These patients saw an increase in their blood glucose levels because the label "messed with their minds." This and other studies indicate that people have far less control over the "internal whirring" of their brains than they realize. Intriguingly, cultural beliefs about aging can actually influence the physical aging process. One important way to contain the nocebo effect, Pilcher writes, is "simply to acknowledge its existence." Understanding that ailments may have a "psychological rather than physical origin" can alleviate symptoms.
An entertaining narrator, Pilcher presents a fascinating introduction to an insidious phenomenon that poses serious implications to health. --Shahina Piyarali