Funny that, the sea-bands were given to be by my NHS GP when I went for medical help.....
Power Balance Bracelet
- Thread starter dowie
- Start date
Funny that, the sea-bands were given to be by my NHS GP when I went for medical help.....
What motivated you to purchase one? Was it a charity one or just something you'd seen others wear?
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Caporegime
I see these appealing to the same crowd who believe in the efficacy of homeopathy.
Man of Honour
That fact that it's itchy balls aside, if this is just a wrist band - how is it possible that you can get a 'fake' one?
Amazon clearly states to buy an official one.
Amazon clearly states to buy an official one.
Associate
The people making and selling this crap know full well that any benefit is purely going to be the placebo effect. All they have to do is SAY that it's going to improve performance and, for some people, the placebo effect will make it so. That's all fine.
The issue is that, with this knowledge, the company still makes and sells something that is unnecessarily expensive with a ridiculous profit margin; essentially ripping people off.
Equally effective would be a doctor telling you that walking around with a post-it note stuck to your head with help cure your headaches. The placebo effect may work and help you out a bit. But if the doctor says that you should buy his solid gold forehead paste for £140 per 5 mil because it will cure your headache, and the desired physiological effect is exactly the same, someone's been royally ripped off.
Of course the moral argument is lost on many.
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Celebrity endorsement and they look pretty good.
My bloody mother bought two a while back and then got ***** with me when i explained the physics and biology as to why a hologram would have absolutely no effect on you. She bought them for £20 each as well.
The thing that annoyed me the most was the fact shes a senior sister and has worked for years in the medical profession, therefore you would have thought she'd have the common sense and medical understanding to realise its all a load of bull! *sigh*
The thing that annoyed me the most was the fact shes a senior sister and has worked for years in the medical profession, therefore you would have thought she'd have the common sense and medical understanding to realise its all a load of bull! *sigh*
The problem with what you are saying is that there might be a large amount of evidence, it is very hard to pin point the reasons behind it.
For example one theory is that it stimulates the release of endorphins, however another is that they effect the nervous system. These are both unproven and the problem with these kind of tests is that the Placebo effect is very hard to get rid of.
Another issue is that acupuncture is not exactly known for scientific accuracy, most of the claims are very fictional and I expect you would know that.
I personally had a laugh at seeing the things that I came across while researching, some of the stuff is much lower than even daily mail would go, in terms of scientific accuracy.
Also be wary that there can be damaging effects to acupuncture as well, such as spread of Hepatitis C. In 7%-11%,bleeding can occur.
Also note, that in that last paper it also says that in the recent studies done where they have used new methods to reduce Placebo effects, they came out as acupuncture not having any effect on the results.
LOL true - Its sort of like when watchdog esq programs seek to expose 'bogus' psychics as if there are some other psychics offering services who aren't bogus.
They're exploiting the basic argument of Pascal's Wager; people will spend the £24 on the bracelet on the off-chance that it does provide some kind of benefit. The original cost is forgotten by the time they realise the bracelet is a con, so effectively the parameters are the same.
Soldato
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2005
- Posts
- 3,027
i disagree. if someone had headaches which werent going away and they did buy that useless gold paste and it cured it, even if it was placebo, then surely it wouldnt matter as he had one reason to buy the stuff, which was curing his headache, and surely as it was successful then the purchase was successful.
plus when i tried the powerbands i didnt know what they were or how they could improve performance but it did, dont ask me how.
Soldato
The placebo effect is always interesting ethically as it very definitely exists, but you are basically endorsing lying to patients to make them feel better - it's a clear 'ends justify the means' situation.
No, power bands, seabands, whatever, likely have absolutely no plausible method of action, but they might well 'work' - it's just you're paying for their marketing efforts to convince you enough that it might work that the placebo effect kicks in.
Much like homeopathy, you aren't paying for the raw materials, you're paying for the marketing costs that makes it 'work'.
I work with pain docs who deal with chronic pain - put it this way half of their job is as a clinician the other half is being a psychologist
i.e. stuff like this - your expectations affect how pain meds work -> http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/16/pessimistic.pain.meds/index.html
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To use Castiel as a convenient example - had he picked up a seaband at a dodgy street market, there's every chance it might not have worked - that it was 'endorsed' and 'recommended' by a medical professional likely played a part in its efficacy - end justify the means? Probably fair to say yes, although when you introduce public funding into the equation the picture gets much more murky.
No, power bands, seabands, whatever, likely have absolutely no plausible method of action, but they might well 'work' - it's just you're paying for their marketing efforts to convince you enough that it might work that the placebo effect kicks in.
Much like homeopathy, you aren't paying for the raw materials, you're paying for the marketing costs that makes it 'work'.
I work with pain docs who deal with chronic pain - put it this way half of their job is as a clinician the other half is being a psychologist
i.e. stuff like this - your expectations affect how pain meds work -> http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/16/pessimistic.pain.meds/index.html*edit*
To use Castiel as a convenient example - had he picked up a seaband at a dodgy street market, there's every chance it might not have worked - that it was 'endorsed' and 'recommended' by a medical professional likely played a part in its efficacy - end justify the means? Probably fair to say yes, although when you introduce public funding into the equation the picture gets much more murky.
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Soldato
I had one of these 'demonstrated' to me at a bike show with me being the subject. The 'salesman' asked me to stand upright with my arms locked to my sides and my hands cupped inwards. He then pushed down on one of my hands with his fist on an outstretched arm and i wobbled backwards. Then gave me the band to wear, did seemingly the same thing and I stayed upright. Something didn't seem quite right so I asked him to do it again, this time watching him carefully.
What he was doing was using a slight angle in his arm position when he wanted to throw me off balance and his arm was parallel to mine when he wanted me to stay upright. I told him I knew exactly what he was doing and he wasn't best pleased being caught out. I really felt like swinging for the fat sweaty salesman but instead held it in and walked away. I was walking past later astounded as people were falling for his antics and shelling out £25 for this amazing holographic technology crap. I did later do some research into them, finding quite a few videos and reports of their methods, then spoke to the organisers who went on to investigate them. The company was called EFX. Charlatans!
What he was doing was using a slight angle in his arm position when he wanted to throw me off balance and his arm was parallel to mine when he wanted me to stay upright. I told him I knew exactly what he was doing and he wasn't best pleased being caught out. I really felt like swinging for the fat sweaty salesman but instead held it in and walked away. I was walking past later astounded as people were falling for his antics and shelling out £25 for this amazing holographic technology crap. I did later do some research into them, finding quite a few videos and reports of their methods, then spoke to the organisers who went on to investigate them. The company was called EFX. Charlatans!
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a magic "hologram" sticker (same type you get on videos/cd's etc to prove their real) makes you awesome.
Associate
Maybe it makes you a power ranger
Man of Honour
An NHS quack, say no more......
Man of Honour
More to the point, GPs are more than happy to hand out placebos to patients that they don't want to, or can't, deal with. Even better if the patient pays for the placebo themself.
M