Belief heals.This is just as well because until relatively recently belief in their dubious skills was all that doctors had to offer.It is easy now to forget that the era of effective drugs came in only 60 years ago.Before that,there was only digitalis for heart incompetence,mercury compounds for syphilis and the two wonder drugs,opium and aspirin.As the number of efficacious drugs has increased,the importance of belief in medicine has become overlooked.Reliance on drugs has meant that the traditional courtesies of the medical profession(the giving of time and attention to patients and the cultivation of a bedside manner)have gone by the board.
展开▼
