The cure is in the mind?

A man whom his doctors referred to a ‘Mr Wright’ was dying from cancer of the lymph nodes.  Orange size tumours had invaded his neck, groin, chest and abdomen and his doctors had exhausted all available treatments.  Nevertheless, Mr Wright was confident that a new anti-cancer drug called Krebiozen would cure him, according to a 1957 report by psychologist Bruno Klopfer of the University of California.  Mr Wright was bedridden and fighting for each breath when he received his first injection.  But three days later he was cheerfully ambling around the unit, joking with the nurses.  Mr Wright’s tumours had shrunk by a half and after 10 more days of treatment he was discharged from hospital.  And yet the other patients in the hospital.  The other patients who had received Krebiozen showed no improvement.  Over the next two months however, Mr Wright became troubled by press reports questioning the efficacy of Krebiozen and suffered a relapse.  His doctors decided to lie to him: an improved, doubly effective version of the drug was due to arrive the next day,they told him.  Mr Wright was ecstatic.  The doctors gave him an injection that contained not one molecule of the drug – and he improved even more than he did the first time.  He remained healthy until two months later, when after reading reports that exposed Krebiozen as worthless he died within days.