http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKG1lgI4zIk
A BBC Horizon program on the power of the placebo....
Apparently it doesn't matter if oxygen is in the
tank of the high altitude climber,so long as he
believes it is there,the brain mimics the appropriate
response.....No oxygen required!
The brain also apparently knows when it's been
given a placebo pill & then mimics the exact same
chemical response as if it had taken the real pill....it does all this both with & without the patient even being aware.......??