Science or Conscience ?

There are few people whom I have met, who at most times smell of pain balms. They have a preconceived notion that only those balms could save them from headaches. In fact, in most cases they apply balms in anticipation of headache, even before actually starting to feel a headache. Those are the ones that inspired this blog. The fact about these counter-irritants lies in their names itself – "Counter-irritant". They act as a counter to the firing of neurons. The principle is simple. Will anyone care for a pimple on the nose when he accidentally cuts his finger when working with a knife? Will a man worry about not having shoes if he happens to lose his legs? The same is the matter with these balms.

So what do you do when you get a headache –
Take a pill? Rub a balm? Get out from your system for some fresh air? Have a short nap? Put all lights out and sit in the darkness? Listen to some light music? Or do nothing at all?

All these will relieve the headache in various degrees. What determines the effectiveness of a therapy? Science or conscience? Is it working really because of some complex chemical structure, bonding with our pain receptors? Or is it only a change in the perception of mind towards the pain? If the answer to the last question is No, then how does pranic healing work?

We all know that every drug that enters the market must pass through a series of clinical trials before being introduced. The volunteers are selected based on their pathological (disease) history and willingness. They sign in a form called as the “informed consent” form. They would be explained in detail, what the study team expects from them and what possible result is expected from the study. So the volunteers can guess about 10-40% of the drug’s effects. What if this “thought” clashes with the “performance” of the drug?

If a person with cancer knows that he is getting a probable cure for his ailment via clinical trials, and that the medicine may enhance his health, or that it may extend his deadline of life on earth, that very thought makes him euphoric. The euphoria is a condition of happiness, a state of active functioning of the neurons, making them transmit and receive neurotransmitters better than when we are at stress and depressed. The term also refers to the state of mind of drug addicts after taking their dose of schedule X drug. This temporary excited state about getting a treatment that is likely to alleviate all his sufferings and social isolation, will definitely make him less perceptible to pain.

Since a considerable part of the feedback questionnaire (that which is gathered from every volunteer after intake of drug) consists of subjective questions (like, do you feel better now?, has the pain subsided?, do you feel like puking?, etc.), the individual’s view of his body condition in euphoric state is different from the real condition. How would we know the distinction between the “real effect” and the “perceived effect” of the drug?

There has been a remedy devised to tackle this – to use “Placebo” drugs. In simpler language, dummy drugs. They do not have any medical effect in relation to the sickness under study. Empty capsules, sugar pills, vitamin supplements, etc. Placebos externally resemble trial drugs, but have no curing or preventing phenomena associated with them. They function as filters eliminating the noise (from conscience) and transmitting only the desired signal (of science). The patients in the study do not know if they are getting a placebo or an active drug. This is called a single-blind trial.

Then is it fine if the trial workers (those who administer the drug to the patient, collect samples and feedback) know who is receiving what medication? He is also a human with a conscience that might make him involuntarily mark an answer expected out of a patient on placebo therapy. A perfect trial should not let the study to be a prey to anyone’s conscience. Thus came into picture – double blind trials. Only the topmost executive of the study would know which patient is receiving placebo.

Finally, science or conscience?
After all knowing the power of conscience itself would not have been possible without science. So do not argue about the title. It’s just a catchy phrase. Human mind has a gift of imagining things. Let us use it for the good.