A lot of what we have talked about in the past week or two in Chapter 2 has been very relevent to my life and mom's life in the past year or so. A year ago my mom decided to take part in a weight loss study.
The study itself was one where they would put a balloon in the subjects' stomaches hoping that it would take up room in the stomach causing the subject to get full faster and not eat as much, thus, lose weight. The thing that really stood out to me about this study in the beginning was when my mom told me that it was a double blind study/experiment. I asked her what that meant and when we learned about it in this chapter it made a whole lot more sense.
She went in on the morning of Sukkot eve last year for the surgery. She had no idea whether or not she would get the balloon because in a double blind study she or the person giving her the information doesn't know. She came home from the hospital with a horrible headache and nausea and I immediately thought, well, she must have the balloon if she is this sick.
Every month for 6 months she would go to the doctor and get weighed in. The pounds were shedding away, but she always lived with the mystery of "do I have the balloon, or don't I?" She could after all have the placebo. Since they didn't know which participants were getting the balloon in the first, they still put them under for a little while to act like some of the subjects were getting it which acted as the placebo. So who knew she could have thought it was there.
In the end, the balloon was indeed in her stomach and she is now a living example of how this study helped people lose weight.
This is so interesting. I noticed that your mom looked different, but I didn't know it was all part of a double-blind study. I am glad that your mom actually got the ballon and was not part of the control group. Often, when scientific studies happen, people forget about the personal sides of the experiment. They forget that people in the control group often need the treatment as well. I know these treatments are experimental, but it is always uplifting to see that someone who was actually in the experimental group experienced a positive change in their life as a result of their participation in the study. On top of the change, they have also helped prove the hypothesis correct. This was definitely a win-win situation for your mom.
ReplyDeleteSophie.
ReplyDeleteThis is mind blowing.
I agree with Sarah when she says that its comforting to know that these kinds of crazy double blind experiments can actually help people in the end. It really helps me to see these kinds of experiments as a beneficial thing for humanity rather than a gamble. I'm very happy for Mama Ostrow and hope that one day this whole method of losing weight becomes a big deal and your mom gets famous.
This is awesome Sophie! It's so cool that what we are learning about is so relevant to your life. It must have been stressful for your mom, not knowing whether or not she had the balloon. I think it should be more of a priority in these types of situations to compensate for the emotions and feelings of both groups. I also agree with Sarah and Alyssa, I think it's very reassuring to know that these typed of experiments can really help people. And it's awesome that your mom ended up with the balloon! Hurray!
ReplyDeleteOhmygodthisiscool.
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome! Science (and more specifically, psychology) in action! How cool it must be to look back now with all the knowledge you have. I was reading your post waiting for the last sentence to be something like "and it turned out she didn't have it and it was just the placebo effect". (I guess I was wrong for once.)
I wonder what it was like to be debriefed all all of that, did you ask your mom? I can't imagine being part of an experiment- sounds cool!
Okay, you've already heard some variation of this four times, but THAT IS SO COOL!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome that you saw the things we learn about in class play out in real life.
It must have been a difficult decision for your mom to decide to participate in the experiment. After all, she could have agreed to participate and not have lost any weight! That would have surely been quite frustrating.
But Baruch Hashem, it all worked out on the end. Go, Shelly!!!
Okay, you've already heard some variation of this four times, but THAT IS SO COOL!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome that you saw the things we learn about in class play out in real life.
It must have been a difficult decision for your mom to decide to participate in the experiment. After all, she could have agreed to participate and not have lost any weight! That would have surely been quite frustrating.
But Baruch Hashem, it all worked out on the end. Go, Shelly!!!
That is so interesting! So cool that your mom got to be part of a study! It's pretty cool how it also got you thinking about it too! The fact that your mom was the one with the balloon is really cool. Did you find out what happened to someone without the balloon to see if the placebo effect actually worked for this study?
ReplyDelete