Fwd: Lullaby lulus

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Tue, 12 Aug 2003 13:42:44 -0500

WC Douglass

Lullaby lulus

 

Daily Dose

 

August 12, 2003

 

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Whatever happened to warm milk?

 

Bet you didn't know this interesting factoid: There are NO

DRUGS (prescription or over-the-counter) that are currently

approved for the treatment of insomnia in children.

 

This doesn't stop mainstream doctors from prescribing them

for childhood sleep problems anyway, apparently. The results

of a recent survey published in the journal Pediatrics

revealed that more than 50 percent of all primary care

pediatricians have written prescriptions for patent drugs for

the treatment of sleeplessness in children-and more than 75

percent have recommended over-the-counter medicines for the

same conditions!

 

And I'll bet you didn't know this, either: As many as one in

four children currently suffers from sleep problems.

 

Doesn't this sound a bit high to you? I'll wager it wasn't

anywhere near this high a ratio 30 years ago. Could it be

because of all the energy-spiking sugar and carbs we cram

into our kids - and all the time they spend in front of

various screens instead of outside running, playing, burning

fat, and getting tuckered enough to conk out at night? And

let's not forget SUNLIGHT DEPRIVATION - probably the most

important reason of all for childhood insomnia!

 

My question is this: Why don't conventional doctors simply

recommend some simple changes to these harmful dietary and

lifestyle trends instead of writing those prescriptions or

recommending the Benadryl? I already know the answer: It's

because they've been brainwashed by all the " educational "

propaganda put forth by drug companies and their legislative

lapdogs up on The Hill. They honestly believe that these kids

are sick - but the truth is that they're just NOT TIRED...

 

But I'm both sick AND tired of all of this kind of quackery.

I'm going to drink myself a glass of warm milk and get some

sleep. Maybe when I wake up I'll realize it was all just a

bad dream. Lettuce extract is also a wonderful soporific.

I'll be talking about that soon in my newsletter, Real Health.

 

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The power of pessimism

 

Everyone has heard of the placebo effect. Simply put, it

happens when you feel better after undergoing some sort of

treatment just because you believe that treatment is helping

you. But you probably haven't heard of the nocebo effect or,

if you like, the " negative placebo effect. " This is,

essentially, the opposite of the placebo effect, meaning that

if you think strongly enough that a treatment will not work,

and then it won't. (I've come up with my own version of the

negative placebo effect, which I've named the Douglass

Effect. It goes something like this: " This medicine makes me

feel terrible, so it must be working - that must mean I am

actually feeling better. " It's also a good IQ test.)

 

But, I digress.

 

Back to the nocebo effect: Harvard doctor Herbert Benson says

three things drive both the placebo and nocebo effects:

beliefs and expectations of patients, their healthcare

providers' beliefs and expectations, and the interaction

between the two. The U.S. Office of Alternative &

Complementary Medicine (OACM) published a paper on this. My

super sleuth is looking for it. I'll report back if she finds

it.

 

These effects are real but they don't last. The laboratory

and other concrete measurements, such as blood pressure and X-

rays, will eventually rule the day and bring in a verdict.

 

Singing my same old song,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

 

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