“The more you think about an imaginary problem, the more you feel like it's real.” (Panova) Our brains are known to work in mysterious ways, and the placebo effect is a great example of this. The concept of this phenomenon is known to confuse the average person, but it shouldn't. However, those who are unaware of it are still affected regularly. In fact, every time you take a pill, half of its power comes from simply thinking and expecting it to work. All human beings are gullible, each to some extent. Even the most intelligent individuals would succumb to the sheer power of placebos, for example, in a life or death situation. The placebo effect actually tricks our brains because of the trust we place in doctors and medicine, the feeling of safety that comes from social support, and the endorphins (natural painkillers) our brains release. First of all, the trust we place in seemingly trustworthy people and product labels leads to the placebo effect. We have been taught all our lives that medicine and doctors are always sincere and their only goal is to help us. Furthermore, we assume that the pills we take are legitimate because they have supposedly been tested. Our brain expects and anticipates that things will get better once we take a certain pill (Faith). Humans are gullible creatures and vulnerable to lies. Cardiologist Leonard Cobb once conducted a study on the results of a trial of a procedure commonly used to treat angina. About 90% of his patients were satisfied with the outcome of the surgery. Subsequently, more people were tested, but this time skipping the most essential procedure. Surprisingly, the results were very similar. Following this discovery the procedure was never repeated in hospitals (Cobb). Medical Scientist HK Bee......middle of paper......t.com - Psychology. About.com and Web. December 3, 2013.Freeman, Shanna. "How the placebo effect works." How things work. Np, nd Web. 22 Nov 20 13.Graham, Sarah. “Brain Painkillers at Work in Placebo Effect, Study Suggests: Scientific American.” American scientist. Np, August 24, 2005. Web. January 4, 2014. Humphrey, Nicholas. "Why does the placebo effect work?" YouTube. YouTube, June 3, 2013. Web. January 8, 2014. Knox, Richard. “Half the power of a drug comes from thinking it will work.” NPR. NPR and Web. January 11, 2014. Marglin, Elisabetta. "The PLACEBO Effect." EBSCOhost: Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCOhost and Web. 22 November 2013.Panova, Simona. Nightmare sacrifice. Np: np, 2013. Print."Placebo Effect." The skeptic's dictionary. Np, nd Web. November 25, 2013. Spectrum, Michael. "The power of nothing." New Yorker December 12, 2011: 30-36. Press.