IF YOU鈥橰E taking medication, do you always read the label to learn about the possible side effects? It might seem like a good idea, but beware: there is growing evidence that simply believing something will be bad for you can make it genuinely bad for you (see 鈥淭he science of voodoo: When mind attacks body鈥�). This might sound like voodoo 鈥� and indeed it is how voodoo works. But that is no reason to dismiss it as mumbo jumbo.
On the contrary, it needs to be taken seriously. While it is a tricky problem to study, what we do know suggests that much needless suffering could be avoided if modern medicine paid more attention to the power of words. Doctors have a duty to inform their patients about side effects, but they should be exploring ways of doing this that minimise the voodoo effect.