life, easily fulfilling government recommendations. A month later
these cleaners showed health benefits in terms of their weight, body-
mass index, body-fat, waist-to-hip ratio and blood pressure, compared
to other cleaners at the same hotel who hadn’t been given the earlier
information.
What was going on here? The cleaners showing the health benefits
hadn’t changed their diets, smoked less or started exercising in their
spare time. The researchers’ conclusion was that, in the same way that
some medicines work because patients believe in their healing power,
so the benefit of exercise can also be related to the level of confidence
in its effectiveness – otherwise known as the placebo effect.
THE POWER OF BELIEF
Whenever drugs companies test the efficacy of a new compound, they
have to demonstrate that its benefits exceed those obtained with a drug-
free sugar pill. The reason for this is that the mere act of taking a pill
tends to have a significant benefit of its own, even if there’s no active
ingredient. This phenomenon, the placebo effect, is one of the most
important in psychology.
Maggie’s Centre at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee in Scotland, designed by Frank
Gehry. Maggie Keswick Jencks, with her husband Charles, thought up the idea of
drop-in centres for cancer sufferers during the late stages of her own cancer. Both
of them believed that a beautiful environment could raise the spirits to a profound
extent, and all the centres are designed to the highest standards.