>Last anecdotal example:
>
>My wife’s family came to the USA in 1978 with my wife’s grandmother. Grandma was 72 at the time; very ill, heart problems, blood pressure, all kind of sh$t. The wife said that her parents were pretty much prepared to bury her in the USA (they could not leave her in USSR by herself). They brought her and, of course, took her to some doctors. They prescribed tons of meds for her (first time I learned about those 7-day plastic dispensers full of pills from my wife’s grandma). But she started feeling good. She lived by herself, cooking for herself, taking care of her apartment, etc. till 96 yo. Then we moved her to the nursing home where she lived till 101 yo. Even at 100 she was still walking around by herself and was lucid. Although she often forgot names.
>
>Of course some here (on UT, they know who they are :) will say that it is all evil Pharma !!!

Actually, she may have lived that far even if she was taking the same amount of placebos, who knows? You seem to forget the somatic causes, the overall look on life one has and how it influences their health. Maybe I am not the best example, but I had a few minor ills before we came to the US, like hardening of the skin on my fingertips, hemorrhoids and minor digestion issues - which were all gone without any drugs whatsoever after just a few months with a solid amount of dollars landing on my account. Most of it returned by the end of 2001 when I was jobless and practically unemployable (a (strike)foreigner(/strike) international amid the post 9-11 paranoia and the dot com bust), and gradually went away again when our family finances stabilized.

Just visiting a doctor is a big placebo - one gets the feeling of being cared of/for, of having some kind of security net around, which can do miracles to remove their fears, and I'd put fear high on the list of things causing diseases.