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- Oct 4, 2005
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- 246
Thats crazy man, i would love to hear more about that. I didnt completetly understand what you were talking about, could you explain in more detail.
Last edited:
Silva Mind Control- Everyone Needs to read this!
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- Jun 3, 2003
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- 125,249
KingD said:
I downloaded the ALPHA sound tape and I found it very relaxing. ALPHA+BLADE will have similar hypnotic sound samples but I plan on incorporating video and subliminal-type text, depending on the users goals (weight loss, confidence, smoking, etc.) I am working with a gentleman from Apple Computers who is creating these formats into podcasts, very advanced stuff.
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- Oct 4, 2005
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Alpha Blade sounds awesome! I cant wait till it comes out, iv already got the money for it.
I just have to sit back and handle the suspense for now.<
The Alpha sound is very relaxing, i listen to it before and after Penis Enlargement sessions. I use it when i visualize my penis getting bigger, its suppose to help make the end result more of a reality.
I just have to sit back and handle the suspense for now.< The Alpha sound is very relaxing, i listen to it before and after Penis Enlargement sessions. I use it when i visualize my penis getting bigger, its suppose to help make the end result more of a reality.
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2005
- Messages
- 246
Kassit said:
OK kassit, I'm going to start off with the medition part. This is going to be very long. This came from my book on Silva, its called The Silva Method Mind control. Its one of the first books by Silva. What I'm about to write about is important to start out with so bare with me. I will start off with meditation because it is the best thing to start out with. Mediation will also help with energy levels and with mathematics.
I'm going to help you learn to meditate. When you learn to do this, you will be at level of mind where you will be able to free your imagination for solving problems. But for now we will be concerned only with mediation; problem solving will come later on.
Because you will be learning without an experienced guide, I will use a method slightly different and quiet a bit slower than the one we use in Mind Control classes. You will have no trouble with it.
If you only learn to mediate and stop there, you will be solving problems anyway. Something beautiful happens in mediation, and the beauty you find calming. The more you mediate, the deeper you go within yourself, the firmer the grasp you will have of a kind of inner peace so Strong that nothing in life will be able to shatter it.
Your body will benefit, too. At first you will find that worries and quilt feelings are absent while you are mediating. One of the beauties of mediation at the Alpha Level is that you cannot bring your feelings of quilt and anger with you. If these feelings intrude you will simply pop out of the mediative level. As time goes on, they will stay away longer, until one day they are gone for good. This means that those activities of the mind that make our bodies sick will be neutralized. The body is designed to be healthy. It has its own healing mechanisms built in. These mechanisms are blocked by minds not trained to control themselves. Mediation is the first step in Mind Control; by itself it will go a long way toward setting fee the bodies healing powers and giving it back the energy once squandered on tension.
Here is all you have to do to reach the Alpha, or meditative, level of mind:
When you awaken in the mourning, go to the bathroom if necessary, then return to bed. Set your alarm for fifteen minutes later in case you drift off to sleep during the exercise. Close your eyes and look upward,behind your eyelids, at a 20 degree angle. For reasons not fully understood, this position for the eyes alone will trigger the brain to Produce Alpha.
Now, slowly, at about two-second intervals, count backward from one hundred to one. As you do this, keep your mind on it, and you will be in Alpha the very first time.
In Mind control classes students show a variety of reactions to their first experience, from "that was beautiful!" to "I Didn't Feel a thing." The difference is less in what happened to them than in how familiar they were with this level of mind in the first place. It will be more or less familiar to everyone. The reason for this is that when we awaken in the morning we are often in Alpha for a while. To go from Theta, the sleep level, to beta, the awake level, we must pass through Alpha, and often we linger there through our early- Morning routine.
If you feel that nothing happened during this first exercise, it simply means you have in Alpha many ties before without being particularly aware of it. Simply relax, don't question it, and stay with the exercises.
Even through you will be in Alpha on the very first try if you concentrate, you still need seven weeks of practice to go to lower levels of Alpha, then to Theta. Use the hundred-to-one method to come out of it. This will give you greater degree of control against coming out spontaneously.
The method we use in Mind control is to say mentally, "I will slowly come out as i count from one to five, feeling wide awake and better than before. One to 2 ,prepare to open your eyes- three, four-five-eyes open, wide awake, feeling better than before."
You will establish two routines, then, one for going to your level, the other for coming out of it. If you change the routine you will have to learn to use your new versions just as you learned to use the first one. This is useless work.
Once you have learned to reach your level with the five-to-one method in the morning you are ready to enter your level any time for day that you choose. All you need is ten or fifteen minutes to spare. Because you will be entering your level from beta rather than the light level of Alpha, a Little extra training will be needed.
Sit in a comfortable chair or on a bed with your fee flat on the floor. Let your hands lie loosely in your lap. If you prefer, sit cross-legged, in the lotus position. Hold your head well balanced, not slumped. Now concentrate on first one part of the body, then another, to consciously relax it. Start with your Left foot, then the left leg, then the right foot, and so on, until you reach the throat, the face, the eyes, and finally the scalp. You will be amazed the first time you do this at how tense your body was.
Now pick a spot about 45 degrees above eye level on the ceiling or the wall opposite your. Gaze at this spot until your eyelids begin to feel a little heavy and let them close. Start your countdown from fifty to one. Do this fro ten days, then ten to one for another then days, then five to one from then on. Since you will no longer be limited to the mornings for this practice, establish a routine of mediation two or three times a day, about fifteen minutes a session.
Once you reach your level, what then? What do you think about?
Right from the beginning, from the very first moment you reach your mediative level, practice visualization. This is central to Mind Control The better you learn to visualize, the more powerful will be your experience with Mind Control.
The first step is to create a tool for visualization, a mental screen. It should be like a large movie screen be should not quite fill your mental vision. Imagine it not behind your eyelids but about six feet in front of you. You will project onto this screen whatever you choose to concentrate on. Later there will be other uses for it.
Once you have built this screen in your mind, project onto it something familiar and simple, like an orange or an apple. Each time you go to your level, stay with just one image; you may change it the next time. Concentrate on making it more and more real-in three dimensions, in FULL COLOR, in all its DETAILS. Think of NOTHING else.
It has been said that the brain is like drunken monkey; it lurches willy-nilly from one thing to another. It is surprising how little command we have over this brain of ours, despite the fine work it sometimes does for us. At other times, though, it operates behind our backs, treacherously creating a headache, then a rash, then an ulcer to top things off. This brain is too powerful, far too powerful, to leave of control. Once we learn to use our minds to train it, it will do some astounding things for us, as you will soon see.
In the meantime, be patient with this simple exercise.
Using your mind, train your brain to go quietly into Alpha and to attend exclusively to the job of creating a simple image more and more vividly. In the beginning, as thoughts intrude, be gently forgiving. Slowly push them away and return to the single object at hand. Becoming irritated or tense will bring you right out of Alpha.
This, then, is mediation as it is widely practiced throughout the world. If you do this and nothing else, you will experience what William Wordsoworth called "A happy stillness of mind," and more, a deep and durable inner peace. This will come as n exciting experience as you reach deeper levels of mind; then you will take it more and more fro granted and the excitement will pass. When this happens, many drop out. They forget that this is not a "trip" for its own sake but the first step in what may well be the most important journey they have ever taken.
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- Jun 28, 2003
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- 872
YO BODYBUILDER05!!! I found the disk that contains the breathing and visualization techniques along with breathing exercises. Take a look at it and let me know what you think about it. Keep in mind this is from 1994.
MENTAL IMAGERY & VISUALIZATION:
Visualizing where you want to be while you exercise, work, train, etc, will make all the difference in the world as far as results and ability are concerned. This section is dedicated to practicing mental strength and visualization while you exercise to experience the absolute best results possible for you effort.
Remember, training your penis is the exact same concept as training your body; if you don't workout, you won't get results. You must do these exercises daily, at least 5-6 days a week, or you will not experience the gains that you desire.
Whether you are jelqing, stretching, or doing PC work, the same basic concept applies. If you visualize your desired size and ability when you work out, you will see results that much faster. Really focus on your penis while you exercise. Close your eyes and get a good picture in your mind as you exercises. Now, every time you milk, stretch or PC flex, visualize your penis growing a little bit each time, and your penis becoming the size that you desire. Really focus on every stroke you take when you jelq, feeling a good stretch and visualizing a good stretch simultaneously. Focus on the size you want to be, a visualize that you already have it while you work out.
This is about all I can say to you about what and how exactly to visualize your gains while you work out. Just remember this, the more you make visualization a regular part of your penile fitness workout, the faster and better results you will attain.
This concept goes for anything you do, whether it's penile fitness, exercise, body conditioning, or meditation. The more you foresee your results, and the more you focus on where you want to be, the faster you will get there. Take care and always remember to visualize your goals!
BREATHING EXERCISES:
I've included this section in our ground breaking online Program because I think it's something we should all do, not only while we workout to see faster results, but to also drive more oxygen into our body and mind.
When you apply this section and the Mental Imagery section, you will have an unbeatable combo that will drive your results faster than ever. Breathing is very important. It teaches patience, control, and better health by oxygenating your brain and body better, which also helps in the fight against cancer. The average person only uses 1/5 of their lungs capacity in a normal day. You will find that if you make this exercise a daily ritual habit, you will not only see results faster, but will also actually gain more energy, mental clarity, and can actually help lose unwanted weight.
BREATHING EXERCISES:
Basically, this is what you do: Clear your mind of everything, including worries, problems, work, school, relationship troubles, EVERYTHING. Inhale through your nose as deep as you possibly can. When you feel like you've reached your lungs maximum capacity, keep trying until you cannot breathe in anymore. Hold for a few seconds, and exhale through your mouth slowly, taking 3-4 seconds to fully exhale. Do this for as long as you feel able, I usually do this throughout the whole day now, while I drive, work, play, etc. I feel much more alert and able since I began. See if you can at least do this for 20 minutes a day.
WHILE JELQING:
Doing this exercise while jelqing can be a very powerful combo for great penile size enhancement and health. Begin jelqing just as you normally do. After about 200 jelqs, begin performing some power jelqs. As you begin, start to breathe just like instructed above. As you breathe in through your nose, visualize a ball of energy growing in your stomach, becoming more powerful the deeper you take your breath. Hold for a second, and jelq down slowly as you breathe out through your mouth. As you breathe out and jelq down, visualize the ball of energy exiting out through your penis, stretching it longer as you exhale. Jelq several more times normally before you do this again. All in all, do about 500-600 jelqs, and anywhere from 20-50 energy ball jelqs.
Remember, breathing correctly throughout the day will give you much more energy, and will give you faster results from our program when used together correctly. Train hard and never give up!
I have some more exercises like glut exercises to give you more thrusting power and a awesome ass(my girl loves mine, not that kind of party though). Just HOLLA BACK!!
MENTAL IMAGERY & VISUALIZATION:
Visualizing where you want to be while you exercise, work, train, etc, will make all the difference in the world as far as results and ability are concerned. This section is dedicated to practicing mental strength and visualization while you exercise to experience the absolute best results possible for you effort.
Remember, training your penis is the exact same concept as training your body; if you don't workout, you won't get results. You must do these exercises daily, at least 5-6 days a week, or you will not experience the gains that you desire.
Whether you are jelqing, stretching, or doing PC work, the same basic concept applies. If you visualize your desired size and ability when you work out, you will see results that much faster. Really focus on your penis while you exercise. Close your eyes and get a good picture in your mind as you exercises. Now, every time you milk, stretch or PC flex, visualize your penis growing a little bit each time, and your penis becoming the size that you desire. Really focus on every stroke you take when you jelq, feeling a good stretch and visualizing a good stretch simultaneously. Focus on the size you want to be, a visualize that you already have it while you work out.
This is about all I can say to you about what and how exactly to visualize your gains while you work out. Just remember this, the more you make visualization a regular part of your penile fitness workout, the faster and better results you will attain.
This concept goes for anything you do, whether it's penile fitness, exercise, body conditioning, or meditation. The more you foresee your results, and the more you focus on where you want to be, the faster you will get there. Take care and always remember to visualize your goals!
BREATHING EXERCISES:
I've included this section in our ground breaking online Program because I think it's something we should all do, not only while we workout to see faster results, but to also drive more oxygen into our body and mind.
When you apply this section and the Mental Imagery section, you will have an unbeatable combo that will drive your results faster than ever. Breathing is very important. It teaches patience, control, and better health by oxygenating your brain and body better, which also helps in the fight against cancer. The average person only uses 1/5 of their lungs capacity in a normal day. You will find that if you make this exercise a daily ritual habit, you will not only see results faster, but will also actually gain more energy, mental clarity, and can actually help lose unwanted weight.
BREATHING EXERCISES:
Basically, this is what you do: Clear your mind of everything, including worries, problems, work, school, relationship troubles, EVERYTHING. Inhale through your nose as deep as you possibly can. When you feel like you've reached your lungs maximum capacity, keep trying until you cannot breathe in anymore. Hold for a few seconds, and exhale through your mouth slowly, taking 3-4 seconds to fully exhale. Do this for as long as you feel able, I usually do this throughout the whole day now, while I drive, work, play, etc. I feel much more alert and able since I began. See if you can at least do this for 20 minutes a day.
WHILE JELQING:
Doing this exercise while jelqing can be a very powerful combo for great penile size enhancement and health. Begin jelqing just as you normally do. After about 200 jelqs, begin performing some power jelqs. As you begin, start to breathe just like instructed above. As you breathe in through your nose, visualize a ball of energy growing in your stomach, becoming more powerful the deeper you take your breath. Hold for a second, and jelq down slowly as you breathe out through your mouth. As you breathe out and jelq down, visualize the ball of energy exiting out through your penis, stretching it longer as you exhale. Jelq several more times normally before you do this again. All in all, do about 500-600 jelqs, and anywhere from 20-50 energy ball jelqs.
Remember, breathing correctly throughout the day will give you much more energy, and will give you faster results from our program when used together correctly. Train hard and never give up!
I have some more exercises like glut exercises to give you more thrusting power and a awesome ass(my girl loves mine, not that kind of party though). Just HOLLA BACK!!
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2005
- Messages
- 34
DLD mentioned creating coincidence in a post on this thread, and I'd just like to vouch for this, as it's something I've done myself. It's a simple way of showing yourself that your mind can affect your situation directly. All you do is a keep a coincidence diary. I found that the more I was aware of coincidence through noting down every time one occurred, the more control I had over creating a coincidence. Soon you'll find that you only have to think of someone and they call, or want something and you'll receive the opportunity to get it. Sounds new agey and flakey I admit, but in my experience, it's true. What else would our minds be capable of I wonder?
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2005
- Messages
- 246
Awesome read, that is very interesting KingD. Thanks for the Info, i really apprectiate it. I have read some stuff on breathing exercises. I read an article from a free site that supposedly can make you grow taller by stretching. Iv been wanting to try it, but i dunno about it. Sounds like it wouldn't work, but then again i didn't think Pe worked.
It said something about breathing in for 4 second holding in for 4 seconds and then slowly let your air out for 12- 14 seconds. I have been doing and i think it is very beneficial to our health.
heres the site:http://www.geocities.com/gottogrow/
I got this website from a past thread on this site.
It said something about breathing in for 4 second holding in for 4 seconds and then slowly let your air out for 12- 14 seconds. I have been doing and i think it is very beneficial to our health.
heres the site:http://www.geocities.com/gottogrow/
I got this website from a past thread on this site.
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2005
- Messages
- 246
Thats awesome, iv read stuff similiar to this. I read an article by a teacher of silva and they talked about writing down what you want each day 15 times.
Do you know where the article is about DLD talking about coincidence?
Heres an article that relates to coincidence.
The Power of Mind Over Matter
by Karol Zelazny
Karol Zelazny, a Silva Instructor in Canada shares some of his experiences using Silva techniques for everyday family and life situations. With humor and candor, he shares stories of using Silva for everything from coaching his son in hockey to repairing his broken down car.
I want to report few noteworthy events from the process known as life.
My life that is! My kids are doing great. My oldest son told me a following story few days ago.
He is helping to coach a House League hockey team. He is a goalie coach, himself playing the position. My son is one of the best goalies in the game, however the world hasn’t recognized the fact just yet.
Let’s just say that the fellow used to have great difficulty stopping the puck.
I believe that it is his first year of playing hockey. Yet the last game that he played, he got a shutout. His team won 5-0! After the game someone asked me, "Your son is doing great". I answered: " I gave him a good advice last night at the practice. I told him to imagine himself as a wall while falling asleep. Nothing gets through the wall. Apparently he listens to me."
I was really impressed! Are the seeds, I planted in my teenaged son’s mind, starting to bear fruit! ? I think so.!
My other son uses visualization to make me buy him stuff. Recently he managed to manifest a blimp from Radio Shack. It was a lot of fun for everybody to fly this goofy blimp all over the house! One Sunday, while coming back from Ontario Science Center, he manifested a burger that I paid for!
After spending 5 hours at the OSC we were driving home. We were quite hungry but I knew that there was a dinner at home or at least a fridge stuffed with food. Yet, about three minutes drive from the house I decided to go to Harvey’s and have a burger! Strange! We were getting out of the car when my son said to me: " You know for the last 10 minutes I have visualized stopping at this exact place and having a burger" Well, it worked like a charm!"
This boy has a very powerful mind, just like the rest of us. In eight grade he used this mind in desperate attempt not to learn French.
My son had an exceptional difficulty learning French language. He simply did not want to learn, regarding the ability to speak French utterly pointless for him. I purchased a computer program to help him to at least get a passing grade. His computer freezed up few minutes after he installed the program and started using it. After restarting it would freeze up again and again! The program worked fine on my computer when I was using it. My computer would freeze up as soon as my son attempted to learn some French with the help of the program! A bit confused at that point, I asked him to take the program to school where French teacher tested it on school’s computer. It worked without a glitch.
I believe that intelligent energy force that surrounds us responded to the subconscious programming of my son which said: " Learning French is pointless" and this somehow created coincidences to help my son avoid his French lessons.
Intermittent problems we have sometimes with cars can possibly be traced to our mood swings. My wife left our house one-day very upset. When she came back she had more reasons to be upset. The reverse gear in her car stopped working and day later the engine developed internal leak.
Faced with expensive repairs I opened the hood, went in Alpha and visualized the car’s transmission. I noticed that the transmission fluid was not flowing freely through one of the channels ( I really have no idea how transmissions work or how they are built but Higher Intelligence does know!). I focused on this channel and in my mind’s eye I saw the fluid burst through the channel. The channel was free of any obstructions. I warmed up the car and engaged the reverse gear. It worked perfectly. Next, I focused on the internal engine leak through the manifold.
My wife, doubting my mental repairs, took her car to a mechanic who was unable to find anything wrong with the transmission and put "Stop Leak" formula into the coolant. Almost two weeks after these events the car is doing great!
I asked my wife not to drive the car while upset!
Take care and may the force be with you!
Karol Zelazny
Karol Zelazny
Silva UltraMind System Instructor
For More Info on Silva Seminars Please See
http://www.silvaultramindsystem.com/seminars/
Do you know where the article is about DLD talking about coincidence?
Heres an article that relates to coincidence.
The Power of Mind Over Matter
by Karol Zelazny
Karol Zelazny, a Silva Instructor in Canada shares some of his experiences using Silva techniques for everyday family and life situations. With humor and candor, he shares stories of using Silva for everything from coaching his son in hockey to repairing his broken down car.
I want to report few noteworthy events from the process known as life.
My life that is! My kids are doing great. My oldest son told me a following story few days ago.
He is helping to coach a House League hockey team. He is a goalie coach, himself playing the position. My son is one of the best goalies in the game, however the world hasn’t recognized the fact just yet.
Let’s just say that the fellow used to have great difficulty stopping the puck.
I believe that it is his first year of playing hockey. Yet the last game that he played, he got a shutout. His team won 5-0! After the game someone asked me, "Your son is doing great". I answered: " I gave him a good advice last night at the practice. I told him to imagine himself as a wall while falling asleep. Nothing gets through the wall. Apparently he listens to me."
I was really impressed! Are the seeds, I planted in my teenaged son’s mind, starting to bear fruit! ? I think so.!
My other son uses visualization to make me buy him stuff. Recently he managed to manifest a blimp from Radio Shack. It was a lot of fun for everybody to fly this goofy blimp all over the house! One Sunday, while coming back from Ontario Science Center, he manifested a burger that I paid for!
After spending 5 hours at the OSC we were driving home. We were quite hungry but I knew that there was a dinner at home or at least a fridge stuffed with food. Yet, about three minutes drive from the house I decided to go to Harvey’s and have a burger! Strange! We were getting out of the car when my son said to me: " You know for the last 10 minutes I have visualized stopping at this exact place and having a burger" Well, it worked like a charm!"
This boy has a very powerful mind, just like the rest of us. In eight grade he used this mind in desperate attempt not to learn French.
My son had an exceptional difficulty learning French language. He simply did not want to learn, regarding the ability to speak French utterly pointless for him. I purchased a computer program to help him to at least get a passing grade. His computer freezed up few minutes after he installed the program and started using it. After restarting it would freeze up again and again! The program worked fine on my computer when I was using it. My computer would freeze up as soon as my son attempted to learn some French with the help of the program! A bit confused at that point, I asked him to take the program to school where French teacher tested it on school’s computer. It worked without a glitch.
I believe that intelligent energy force that surrounds us responded to the subconscious programming of my son which said: " Learning French is pointless" and this somehow created coincidences to help my son avoid his French lessons.
Intermittent problems we have sometimes with cars can possibly be traced to our mood swings. My wife left our house one-day very upset. When she came back she had more reasons to be upset. The reverse gear in her car stopped working and day later the engine developed internal leak.
Faced with expensive repairs I opened the hood, went in Alpha and visualized the car’s transmission. I noticed that the transmission fluid was not flowing freely through one of the channels ( I really have no idea how transmissions work or how they are built but Higher Intelligence does know!). I focused on this channel and in my mind’s eye I saw the fluid burst through the channel. The channel was free of any obstructions. I warmed up the car and engaged the reverse gear. It worked perfectly. Next, I focused on the internal engine leak through the manifold.
My wife, doubting my mental repairs, took her car to a mechanic who was unable to find anything wrong with the transmission and put "Stop Leak" formula into the coolant. Almost two weeks after these events the car is doing great!
I asked my wife not to drive the car while upset!
Take care and may the force be with you!
Karol Zelazny
Karol Zelazny
Silva UltraMind System Instructor
For More Info on Silva Seminars Please See
http://www.silvaultramindsystem.com/seminars/
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2005
- Messages
- 246
Here is some neat articles i found.
Study Verifies Power of Positive Thinking
By Lauran Neergaard
Associated Press
posted: 28 November 2005
08:05 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Your medicine really could work better if your doctor talks it up before handing over the prescription.
Research is showing the power of expectations, that they have physical -- not just psychological -- effects on your health. Scientists can measure the resulting changes in the brain, from the release of natural painkilling chemicals to alterations in how neurons fire.
Among the most provocative findings: New research suggests that once Alzheimer's disease robs someone of the ability to expect that a proven painkiller will help them, it doesn't work nearly as well.
It's a new spin on the so-called placebo effect -- and it begs the question of how to harness this power and thus enhance treatment benefits for patients.
"Your expectations can have profound impacts on your brain and your health,'' says Columbia University neuroscientist Tor Wager.
"There is not a single placebo effect, but many placebo effects,'' that differ by illness, adds Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti of Italy's University of Torino Medical School, who is studying those effects in patients with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and pain.
The placebo effect is infamous from studies of new medications: Scientists often given either an experimental drug or a dummy pill to patients and see how they fare. Frequently, those taking the fake feel better, too, for a while, making it more difficult to tease out the medication's true effects.
Doctors have long thought the placebo effect was psychological.
Now scientists are amassing the first direct evidence that the placebo effect actually is physical, and that expecting benefit can trigger the same neurological pathways of healing as real medication does. Among them:
--University of Michigan scientists injected the jaws of healthy young men with salt water to cause painful pressure, while Penis EnlargementT scans measured the impact in their brains. During one scan, the men were told they were getting a pain reliever, actually a placebo.
Their brains immediately released more endorphins -- chemicals that act as natural painkillers by blocking the transmission of pain signals between nerve cells -- and the men felt better. To return to pre-placebo pain levels, scientists had to increase the salt-water pressure.
"Our brain really is on drugs when we get a placebo,'' says co-researcher Christian Stohler, now at the University of Maryland. More remarkable, some especially strong placebo responders suggest "many brains can actually stimulate that (pain-relief) system more.''
Italy's Benedetti gave Parkinson's patients a placebo and measured the electrical activity of individual nerve cells in a movement-controlling part of the brain. Those neurons quieted down, a decrease in firing of about 40 percent that correlated with a reduction in patients' muscle rigidity -- they moved more easily.
To further prove the power of belief, Benedetti hooked pain patients to a computerized morphine injection system. Sometimes the computer administered a dose without them knowing it; sometimes a nurse pretended to give it. The morphine was up to 50 percent more effective when patients knew it was coming.
Likewise, Parkinson's patients moved much better when they were told that doctors had turned on a pacemaker-like implant in their brains, which blocks tremors, than when it was turned on covertly.
But in a similar experiment with Alzheimer's patients suffering pain, Benedetti found no difference between covert or expected dosing. The results are preliminary, he cautioned a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience last month. But it appears that because Alzheimer's robs patients of the cognitive ability to expect a benefit, they need higher doses of painkillers to get as much relief as non-demented patients.
Placebos aren't a substitute for real medicine. But the research suggests maybe doctors should try to manipulate patients' treatment expectations, for at least some hard-to-treat conditions.
"The bigger question is how do we capitalize on the placebo effect,'' said Dr. Helen Mayberg of Emory University, whose studies suggest some antidepressants have a "placebo-plus'' activity in the brain. "There may be a phenomenon we all have access to.''
Study: Optimists Live Longer
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 1 November 2004
4:00 p.m. ET
Optimists get the last laugh, according to a new study that shows their hearts stay healthy longer than those of grumps.
People who described themselves as highly optimistic a decade ago had lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease and lower overall death rates than strong pessimists, the research found.
Major depression was already a known risk factor for heart problems, Any possible connection between a positive outlook and the chance of dying hadn't been well studied, however.
Nine years ago a study group -- 999 men and women aged 65 to 85 -- completed a questionnaire on health, self-respect, morale, optimism and relationships. Since then, 397 of them have died.
Optimistic participants had a 55 percent lower risk of death from all causes and 23 percent lower risk of death from heart failure.
Do men benefit more?
The work, announced today, was led by Erik Giltay of the Psychiatric Center GGZ Delfland, in The Netherlands.
Optimism might work better at protecting men than women against all causes of death, the study also found.
"We have no clear idea" why, Giltay told LiveScience, "and it would be very interesting to further study such differences." One possible explanation of the difference, he said, is that the study's ability to detect differences was larger in men because more men died.
Optimism protected men and women equally against heart-related death among the study members. Heart disease is the number one killer of women: One in three women dies from it, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Bad habits of grouches
Giltay's team notes that pessimistic people may be more prone to developing habits and problems that cut life short, such as smoking, obesity and hypertension.
"A predisposition toward optimism seemed to provide a survival benefit in elderly subjects with relatively short life expectancies otherwise," the researchers write in the November issue of journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
Could people change their dispositions if they knew it might keep their tickers going? That would be "an intriguing question to be addressed in future research," Giltay said by email. "It is, however, assumed that optimism is partly a part of one's nature [or personality], and this should also be studied further."
Further research would also be needed to show whether optimism is similarly good for younger people.
Study Verifies Power of Positive Thinking
By Lauran Neergaard
Associated Press
posted: 28 November 2005
08:05 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Your medicine really could work better if your doctor talks it up before handing over the prescription.
Research is showing the power of expectations, that they have physical -- not just psychological -- effects on your health. Scientists can measure the resulting changes in the brain, from the release of natural painkilling chemicals to alterations in how neurons fire.
Among the most provocative findings: New research suggests that once Alzheimer's disease robs someone of the ability to expect that a proven painkiller will help them, it doesn't work nearly as well.
It's a new spin on the so-called placebo effect -- and it begs the question of how to harness this power and thus enhance treatment benefits for patients.
"Your expectations can have profound impacts on your brain and your health,'' says Columbia University neuroscientist Tor Wager.
"There is not a single placebo effect, but many placebo effects,'' that differ by illness, adds Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti of Italy's University of Torino Medical School, who is studying those effects in patients with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and pain.
The placebo effect is infamous from studies of new medications: Scientists often given either an experimental drug or a dummy pill to patients and see how they fare. Frequently, those taking the fake feel better, too, for a while, making it more difficult to tease out the medication's true effects.
Doctors have long thought the placebo effect was psychological.
Now scientists are amassing the first direct evidence that the placebo effect actually is physical, and that expecting benefit can trigger the same neurological pathways of healing as real medication does. Among them:
--University of Michigan scientists injected the jaws of healthy young men with salt water to cause painful pressure, while Penis EnlargementT scans measured the impact in their brains. During one scan, the men were told they were getting a pain reliever, actually a placebo.
Their brains immediately released more endorphins -- chemicals that act as natural painkillers by blocking the transmission of pain signals between nerve cells -- and the men felt better. To return to pre-placebo pain levels, scientists had to increase the salt-water pressure.
"Our brain really is on drugs when we get a placebo,'' says co-researcher Christian Stohler, now at the University of Maryland. More remarkable, some especially strong placebo responders suggest "many brains can actually stimulate that (pain-relief) system more.''
Italy's Benedetti gave Parkinson's patients a placebo and measured the electrical activity of individual nerve cells in a movement-controlling part of the brain. Those neurons quieted down, a decrease in firing of about 40 percent that correlated with a reduction in patients' muscle rigidity -- they moved more easily.
To further prove the power of belief, Benedetti hooked pain patients to a computerized morphine injection system. Sometimes the computer administered a dose without them knowing it; sometimes a nurse pretended to give it. The morphine was up to 50 percent more effective when patients knew it was coming.
Likewise, Parkinson's patients moved much better when they were told that doctors had turned on a pacemaker-like implant in their brains, which blocks tremors, than when it was turned on covertly.
But in a similar experiment with Alzheimer's patients suffering pain, Benedetti found no difference between covert or expected dosing. The results are preliminary, he cautioned a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience last month. But it appears that because Alzheimer's robs patients of the cognitive ability to expect a benefit, they need higher doses of painkillers to get as much relief as non-demented patients.
Placebos aren't a substitute for real medicine. But the research suggests maybe doctors should try to manipulate patients' treatment expectations, for at least some hard-to-treat conditions.
"The bigger question is how do we capitalize on the placebo effect,'' said Dr. Helen Mayberg of Emory University, whose studies suggest some antidepressants have a "placebo-plus'' activity in the brain. "There may be a phenomenon we all have access to.''
Study: Optimists Live Longer
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 1 November 2004
4:00 p.m. ET
Optimists get the last laugh, according to a new study that shows their hearts stay healthy longer than those of grumps.
People who described themselves as highly optimistic a decade ago had lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease and lower overall death rates than strong pessimists, the research found.
Major depression was already a known risk factor for heart problems, Any possible connection between a positive outlook and the chance of dying hadn't been well studied, however.
Nine years ago a study group -- 999 men and women aged 65 to 85 -- completed a questionnaire on health, self-respect, morale, optimism and relationships. Since then, 397 of them have died.
Optimistic participants had a 55 percent lower risk of death from all causes and 23 percent lower risk of death from heart failure.
Do men benefit more?
The work, announced today, was led by Erik Giltay of the Psychiatric Center GGZ Delfland, in The Netherlands.
Optimism might work better at protecting men than women against all causes of death, the study also found.
"We have no clear idea" why, Giltay told LiveScience, "and it would be very interesting to further study such differences." One possible explanation of the difference, he said, is that the study's ability to detect differences was larger in men because more men died.
Optimism protected men and women equally against heart-related death among the study members. Heart disease is the number one killer of women: One in three women dies from it, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Bad habits of grouches
Giltay's team notes that pessimistic people may be more prone to developing habits and problems that cut life short, such as smoking, obesity and hypertension.
"A predisposition toward optimism seemed to provide a survival benefit in elderly subjects with relatively short life expectancies otherwise," the researchers write in the November issue of journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
Could people change their dispositions if they knew it might keep their tickers going? That would be "an intriguing question to be addressed in future research," Giltay said by email. "It is, however, assumed that optimism is partly a part of one's nature [or personality], and this should also be studied further."
Further research would also be needed to show whether optimism is similarly good for younger people.
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