Bronze-level article Placebo effect
   The placebo effect is a psychosomatic phenomenon in which symptoms of a
   this, controlling for the placebo effect is an essential part of
   pharmacological properties, are commonly prescribed as placebo
   labelled "medicine". Under placebo control, alternative medicines do
        * 4 The strangeness of the placebo effect
        * 6 False placebo
   The placebo effect is quite a complex phenomenon. It is influenced by a
   placebo effect, real treatment, regression to the mean or a complicated
   combination of all three. So, the placebo effect is best described as a
   However, as the placebo effect is powered by belief in a treatment and
   exploit new technologies induce a placebo effect in addition to their
   studies of new treatments, they are compared not with inactive placebos
   unethical to use placebopathy where a working treatment is known) and
   It is an observed phenomenon that placebo drugs distributed in flashier
   packaging counterparts.^[2] There is also evidence that the placebo
   effect can work even if the person knows that it is a placebo, as
   However, the statement issued to patients read "placebo pills made of
   In short, the placebo effect works if you expect the placebo effect to
   placebos as a treatment - known as placebopathy. Many casual complaints
   can be dealt with by inactive placebo treatments (involving a sugar
   willingly issuing placebos, it is not considered ethical in modern
   medicine. Firstly, placebopathy involves medical professions deceiving
   turned out to be no more effective than inactive placebos, yet can be
   no treatment at all (hence the need for placebo control in trials, see
   effective placebopathy.
   placebo effect.
   Because the placebo effect is so powerful, efficacy claims for medical
   placebo. Neither the patients or the administrators of the treatment
   useful, it must produce results that are better than the placebo at a
   statistically significant level. In practice the "placebo" is usually
   an existing treatment, as being better than an placebo isn't enough - a
   Placebo treatments can often be quite difficult to design, but are
   still possible. As mentioned above, placebo surgeries have been
   placebo treatment to test acupuncture, for example, could be designed
   places the technique claims are "special". A second placebo treatment
   think, while placebo needles penetrate only the top layer of the skin.
   Quacks who push woo treatments rely on the placebo effect when arguing
   need to pit a drug against a placebo: anything will usually perform
   reject placebo controlled experiments for any number of excuses. For
[edit] The strangeness of the placebo effect
   The power of the placebo effect produces many strange and interesting
   quirks. These indicate that the placebo effect may well be more than
       and so cannot be due to the placebo effect. (Homeopathic teething
     * Placebos that are "more expensive" work better,^[6] as do ones that
     * More dramatic placebos are more effective. Injections work better
       placebo is more effective than just giving a patient a pill
     * The placebo effect may possibly have the ability to overpower real
     * In one trial, the placebo effect was induced even though the
       individuals were told that it was a placebo that contains no
       pill also affects the placebo response. Certain colours boost the
       efficacy of placebos for different illnesses, and can even
     * The placebo effect may actually be getting stronger over time, as
     * The placebo effect may be transferable; a patient being around
       one example of the power of the placebo effect. People practicing
   The placebo effect has a somewhat less well-known, slightly evil
   placebo pill can generate the negative side-effects associated with
[edit] False placebo
   A false placebo is a non-placebo factor that appears to cause an
   improvement of a disease. False placebos differ from actual placebos in
   False placebos are the lesser-known things controlled for in the
   placebo arms of clinical trials. Some examples of false placebos
    1. ↑ Scientific American - Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind
       Kokkotou E, et al. (2010) Placebos without Deception: A Randomized
    4. ↑ Science Based Medicine - Is There a Placebo Effect for Animals?
    6. ↑ Expensive Placebo Works Better Than Cheap One
       chemical agents in human subjects - the pharmacology of placebos. J
   10. ↑ Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to
       Clinclicians' expectations influence placebo analgesia. Lancet, 1,
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