The Daily Mail effect

[Quantum Cat]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2322485/DANGER-Reading-articles-health-disease-make-feel-ill.html

DANGER: Reading articles about health and disease can make you feel ill

• Scare stories about illnesses can trigger symptoms
• Could be because of 'nocebo' effect where the anticipation of possible illness causes symptoms
  

Scare stories about illnesses may trigger symptoms in some people, according to a new study.

Researchers found that media reports about substances that are supposedly dangerous to health may cause ‘suggestible’ people to develop symptoms - even though there is no objective reason for them to do so.

Researchers studied the phenomenon known as electromagnetic hypersensitivity, which is associated with mobile phone use.

Reports about disease and hazardous substances can make people anxious about developing conditions and cause them to develop symptoms

Doctor Michael Witthvft, of Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, said: ‘There is a considerable body of evidence that electromagnetic hypersensitivity might actually be the result of a so-called “nocebo” effect.

‘The mere anticipation of possible injury may actually trigger pain or disorders. This is the opposite of the analgesic effects we know can be associated with exposure to placebos.’


The study illustrates how media reports about health hazards may trigger or amplify 'nocebo' effects in some people.
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For example, people who are sensitive to electromagnetic fields report symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, burning or tingling sensations on their skin, after watching or reading reports into the dangers.

Dr Witthvft said: ‘Tests have shown that the people affected are unable to tell if they have really been exposed to an electromagnetic field.

‘In fact, their symptoms are triggered in exactly the same way if they are exposed to genuine and sham fields.’


As part of the study, 147 test subjects were first shown a television report.

One group of participants watched a BBC documentary, which dealt with the potential health hazards supposedly associated with mobile phones and WiFi signals.

The other group watched a report on the security of internet and mobile phone data.

Then all the subjects in both groups were exposed to fake WiFi signals that they were told were real.

Even though they were not exposed to any radiation, some of the subjects developed characteristic symptoms - more than half of the subjects reported experiencing agitation and anxiety, loss of concentration or tingling in their fingers, arms, legs, and feet.

Two even left the study prematurely because their symptoms were so severe that they no longer wanted to be exposed to the assumed radiation.

It became apparent that the symptoms were most severe among the subjects who had high pre-existing anxiety as a result of viewing the documentary about the possible hazards of electromagnetic radiation.

Dr Witthvft said the study demonstrates that ‘sensationalised’ reports on potential risks, which often lack scientific evidence, can have a significant effect on the health of large sections of the population.


...which is bad news if you read MailOnline

• Redheads are at increased risk of skin cancer even if they DON'T spend time in the sun
• Why living near a busy road could be dangerous for your child's health: Traffic pollution linked to diabetes risk
• Could the Cinnamon Craze give you LIVER damage?
• Middle classes are 'ignoring the dangers of using casual drinking to combat stress'
• First case of SARS-like virus confirmed in France
• Holby actor Ben Richards, 41, reveals shock at being diagnosed with bowel cancer and says he was a 'total bloke' who ignored the symptoms
• British woman nearly died after tapeworms burrowed into her BRAIN while she was volunteering in Madagascar
• Could MUMPS be the next epidemic to hit South Wales? Cardiff University warns students of rise in cases
• Terrifying holiday bug that can burst your blood vessels. All it takes is an insect bite and you could even fall victim on a trip to France. The growing danger of deadly dengue fever
• Retired truck driver left unable to walk after being hit by a dormant infection 20 years after swallowing sea water during Great Barrier Reef swim

 

[Wuffer]

I'm glad to see this is getting a lot more recognition. There are so many examples of this: Wind farms, cell phones, aspartame, MSG, vaccines, and obviously, finasteride.

The trick to not falling into this trap is to just stop bloody believing everything you see in the news. Every time I see a ridiculous health claim on the news, I go research it. Read the study myself, listen to other people's interpretations and more often than not, the study turns out to be weak or contains significant bias. Sometimes the media outright interprets the study incorrectly, reaching a completely different conclusion. Sound familiar?


Ignorance is bliss. Everyone tells me diet coke will kill me. Microwaving my food in plastic containers will kill me. Finasteride will make me impotent. My cell phone will give me brain cancer. Vaccines will cause autism. I've been exposing myself to these things for years, and i'm healthier than almost everyone that tells me how dangerous they are. "It's going to catch up to you!" sure, show me evidence that it will and I will believe you. Until then, I say stressing about every little tiny thing that you expose your body to is going to catch up to you. Especially when you realize you spent your entire life trying to avoid things instead of just living life. I would way rather bury my head in the sand than worry about so many things that will almost certainly never happen to me.

 

[resu]

You'll be much happier if you don't read any news, I know I am.