This fascinating post (Acupuncture, real or fake, may help migraines - Alternative Medicine - MSNBC.com) covers research that shows that acupuncture is highly effective at treating migraine pain - but so is inserting needles at other than the 'right' acupuncture points!
We're far more complicated than we realize. This article published by New Scientist looks at thirteen different things we really don't understand. Point one is the power of the placebo effect. As the article demonstrates, the placebo effect isn't simply that higher regions of the brain can manipulate - ignore, for example - sense input. The neurons themselves can be reprogrammed - at the cellular level - to respond to placebo. The mind can affect the body's biochemistry in profound ways. We ought to stop regarding the placebo effect as something to be 'controlled for', and we ought to begin looking for ways to take advantage of it.
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