Placebo
hideA placebo is a sham medical intervention. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes have a therapeutic effect, causing the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.
Placebos are widely used in medicine, and the placebo effect is a pervasive phenomenon; in fact, it is part of the response to any active medication. However, the deceptive nature of the placebo creates tension between the Hippocratic Oath and the honesty of the doctor-patient relationship. The placebo effect points to the importance of perception and the brain's role in physical health.
Since the publication of Henry K. Beecher's The Powerful Placebo in 1955 the phenomenon has been considered to have clinically important effects. This view was notably challenged when in 2001 a systematic review of clinical trials concluded that there was no evidence of clinically important effects, except perhaps in the treatment of pain and continuous subjective outcomes. The article received a flurry of criticism, but the authors later published a Cochrane review with similar conclusions. Most studies have attributed the difference from baseline till the end of the trial to a placebo effect, but the reviewers examined studies which had both placebo and untreated groups in order to distinguish the placebo effect from the natural progression of the disease.
For more information about Placebo, read the full article at
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News tagged with placebo
Vaccine being developed to help smokers quit
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 20, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Glaxo-SmithKline has joined forces with Nabi Pharmaceuticals to produce a vaccine to help smokers give up their addiction permanently.
Beetroot juice boosts stamina, new study shows
Aug 06, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- Drinking beetroot juice boosts your stamina and could help you exercise for up to 16% longer. A University of Exeter led-study, published today, shows for the first time how the nitrate contained ...
Scientists present first genetic evidence for why placebos work
Jul 20, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (11) |
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usually mere sugar pills designed to represent "no treatment" in a clinical treatment study. The effectiveness of the actual medication is compared with the placebo to determine if the medication works.
Over-the-counter eye drops raise concern over antibiotic resistance
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 27, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- The use of antibiotic eye drops for conjunctivitis has increased by almost half since they became available over the counter at chemists in 2005, data obtained by Oxford University researchers ...
Pharmaceuticals Look to Adaptive Trials
Aug 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, trials of pharmaceuticals have revolved around the double-blind test, controlled with a placebo, in which not even those conducting the investigation knew who was receiving what ...
Drinkers not only zone out -- but also are unaware that they do
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
May 05, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (5) |
1
A new study out of the University of Pittsburgh suggests that a moderate dose of alcohol increases a person's mind wandering, while at the same time reducing the likelihood of noticing that one's mind has wandered.
Whiter laundry and a surprising new treatment for kids' eczema
Apr 27, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
9
It's best known for whitening a load of laundry. But now simple household bleach has a surprising new role: an effective treatment for kids' chronic eczema.
Personality traits contribute to 'placebo effect'
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Apr 23, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at McGill University have found for the first time that novelty seeking personality types enjoy a stronger “placebo response,” or pain relief caused by the administration of a sham treatment, ...
Premature ejaculation spray enables men to last six times longer after penetration
Apr 06, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
1
Men with premature ejaculation who used a topical spray five minutes before intercourse were able to delay their orgasm six times longer than normal, according to a study in the April issue of BJU International.
Medication does not appear to reduce progression of atherosclerosis
Medicine & Health / Medications
Mar 17, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
0
Compared to placebo, the drug pactimibe did not effect certain measures of atherosclerosis for patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol levels), but these patients did have an increased incidence of cardiovascular ...
The narrow line between love and jealousy
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
A new study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that the hormone oxytocin, the "love hormone", which affects behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, such as jealousy ...
Experts: Placebo power behind many natural cures
Nov 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
(AP) -- People looking for natural cures will be happy to know there is one. Two words explain how it works: "I believe." It's the placebo effect - the ability of a dummy pill or a faked treatment to make people feel better, ...
In Between Mind-Body Split: Chronic Pain Relief
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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The Placebo effect has long been recognized as a factor in determining the efficacy of various medical intervention therapies. A newly published study, "Direct Evidence for Spinal Cord Involvement in Placebo Analgesia"*, ...
Breast tenderness during hormone replacement therapy linked to elevated cancer risk
Oct 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Women who developed new-onset breast tenderness after starting estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy were at significantly higher risk for developing breast cancer than women on the combination therapy who didn't ...
Triple therapy halves exacerbations in moderate-to-severe COPD (w/ Podcast)
Oct 08, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
0
Patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can benefit from triple therapy that includes a long-acting β-agonist (LABA), an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and an anti-muscarinic agent, ...
