TV Show "The Healer" (TLC Channel)

[bilby]

Of course, there's another aspect of this that also needs to be considered - safety.

Charlie doesn't know how it works. If we accept (for the sake of argument) that his claim that it relieves pain is true, then we know that he is doing something to alter the internal state of his patients - and he has no idea what that is, or whether it might cause harm.

Will his patients die of brain tumours over the next five years after treatment? We don't know - and without any proper studies, we can't know.

I, personally, can dismiss this risk as nonexistent; but only because I am confident that he is not having ANY effect on the patients. He hasn't got that excuse; so how does he justify doing an unknown thing with unknowable side-effects to anyone?

If the makers of Tylenol had taken this approach, then what would inspire patients to avoid taking a hundred tablets for severe pain? We know that one or two are good, but that dozens or hundreds can be fatal. But Charlie doesn't know whether his "treatment" might cause long term harm, or whether it might cause acute harm in some situations.

What if, for one patient in ten thousand, instead of turning off pain, he turns off breathing, or heartbeat? In the absence of any understanding of what it is he is doing, we have no way to tell if it does.

One thing we do know is that any therapy which has beneficial effects, also has the potential for harmful side effects. Charlie appears not to have made any attempt to measure (or even to be on the lookout for) these.

 

[abaddon]

I see persons were suggesting the placebo effect and Thomas's response seemed like disappointment.

People often offer how the mind can influence health in the attitude "and that's all it is, just something 'subjective' so nothing so interesting as either technology or a miracle". If they're not offering in that spirit, that's how people read "it's a placebo effect"... "Oh", they say. "Well, I was hoping maybe there was something more to it".

"Just the imagination". Haha, so funny. The imagination is one of the main factors that shape the quality of our lives (as well as created everything in civilization). Imagine the worst in things, like "this medicine isn't going to help me", and your wish might really come true! (It's called the nocebo effect). Imagine it will help you and, again, your wish might really come true! So there's no "just" about the human imagination.

If this man can create expectations in people that alleviates their pain and possibly aids in their healing, then that needs to be identified and studied and incorporated into mainstream medicine more-so than it has been. If it has real medical benefits, regardless that they can't put it inside a capsule or syringe, that needs to be included into medical care.

My guess (without having watched any part of the video) is he's showing these ailing people more loving, caring attention than their hurried, clinical-minded physicians are, and creating a great deal of expectation of having an effect.

If so then Charlie's healing powers are innate to the human imagination and body. So Charlie's a dispensable item in all this. People can aid in their own pain-relief, stress-reduction and possibly affect even diseases with their own imaginations.

There's no harm in that, so long as it doesn't replace medical treatment. Nothing in this post was intended to promote "alternative medicine". Mainstream med has more to learn about the mind's influence on physiology.

 

[bilby]

I see persons were suggesting the placebo effect and Thomas's response was disappointment.

People often offer how the mind can influence health in the attitude "and that's all it is, just something 'subjective' so nothing so interesting as either technology or a miracle". If they're not offering in that spirit, that's how people read "it's a placebo effect"... "Oh", they say. "Well, I was hoping maybe there was something more to it".

"Just the imagination". Haha, so funny. The imagination is one of the main factors that shape the quality of our lives (as well as created everything in civilization). Imagine the worst in things, like "this medicine isn't going to help me", and your wish might really come true! (It's called the nocebo effect). Imagine it will help you and, again, your wish might really come true! So there's no "just" about the human imagination.

If this man can create expectations in people that alleviates their pain and possibly aids in their healing, then that needs to be identified and studied and incorporated into mainstream medicine more-so than it has been. If it has real medical benefits, regardless that they can't put it inside a capsule or syringe, that needs to be included into medical care.

My guess (without having watched any part of the video) is he's showing these ailing people more loving, caring attention than their hurried, clinical-minded physicians are, and creating a great deal of expectation of having an effect.

If so then Charlie's healing powers are innate to the human imagination and body. So Charlie's a dispensable item in all this. People can aid in their own pain-relief, stress-reduction and possibly affect even diseases with their own imaginations.

There's no harm in that, so long as it doesn't replace medical treatment. Disclaimer: Nothing in what I wrote above was to promote "alternative medicine".

I completely agree - I think that there is a lot to be said for the clinical benefits of better hospital environments (and the clinical harm caused by sterile, soulless wards where patients are largely ignored except to administer treatment or essential services), and the provision of friendly hospital visitors to simply spend time with patients who wouldn't have visitors otherwise could be a great help. Nurses and doctors are too busy to play this role; But there's no doubting that just having someone take an interest and be there to chat with, can be highly beneficial for some patients.

 

[none]

humanists all over the country talking to patients at christian hospitals, being there just to talk....and getting paid would be nice

 

[bilby]

humanists all over the country talking to patients at christian hospitals, being there just to talk....and getting paid would be nice

Chaplaincy could be very valuable, if they took the God out of it.

 

[Thomas II]

I see persons were suggesting the placebo effect and Thomas's response seemed like disappointment.

People often offer how the mind can influence health in the attitude "and that's all it is, just something 'subjective' so nothing so interesting as either technology or a miracle". If they're not offering in that spirit, that's how people read "it's a placebo effect"... "Oh", they say. "Well, I was hoping maybe there was something more to it".

"Just the imagination". Haha, so funny. The imagination is one of the main factors that shape the quality of our lives (as well as created everything in civilization). Imagine the worst in things, like "this medicine isn't going to help me", and your wish might really come true! (It's called the nocebo effect). Imagine it will help you and, again, your wish might really come true! So there's no "just" about the human imagination.

If this man can create expectations in people that alleviates their pain and possibly aids in their healing, then that needs to be identified and studied and incorporated into mainstream medicine more-so than it has been. If it has real medical benefits, regardless that they can't put it inside a capsule or syringe, that needs to be included into medical care.

My guess (without having watched any part of the video) is he's showing these ailing people more loving, caring attention than their hurried, clinical-minded physicians are, and creating a great deal of expectation of having an effect.

If so then Charlie's healing powers are innate to the human imagination and body. So Charlie's a dispensable item in all this. People can aid in their own pain-relief, stress-reduction and possibly affect even diseases with their own imaginations.

There's no harm in that, so long as it doesn't replace medical treatment. Nothing in this post was intended to promote "alternative medicine". Mainstream med has more to learn about the mind's influence on physiology.

If you guys want to expand on the placebo effect, please do so.

This is interesting: http://tedkaptchuk.com/selected-publications

http://media.virbcdn.com/files/55/3681647af9fbe5cc-PerspectivesNEJMKaptchukMiller.pdf

 

[Malintent]

Somehow I get the feeling that if someone was actually able to heal people like that, I wouldn't be hearing about it for the first time in the trailer for his TLC reality show.

Ding!

I stopped watching TLC when they stopped showing documentaries.

I stopped watching TLC when they started doing paranormal shit and other nonsense... on the LEARNING channel.. I became offended by them. No interest in any of their fiction sold under the guise of "Learning". The Science Channel is worse... not a drop of Science sans Pseudo to be found there.