Season 3 | Episode 1 Placebo « previous episode | next episode » -- Pill Pill (Lucas Lucas/flickr/CC-BY-2.0) With new research demonstrating the startling power of the placebo effect, this hour of Radiolab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination. -- pills Pinpointing the Placebo Effect All over the world, people say they are healed by things that turn out to be placebo. So it's easy to think that they must have been faking in the first place if all it took was a little sugar pill to assuage their ailments. But keep your scoffing at ... -- The White Coat Next up: a look at the placebo effect from the doctor's perspective. How the medical context alone can be the key into the brain's healing resources. We'll hear the story of Dr. Albert Mason, who found he had -- Faith Healers The very first placebo-controlled trial may have been the debunking of the charismatic Anton Mesmer (the enigmatic source responsible for the verb “to mesmerize”), an enlightenment figure with a healing technique that Ben Franklin, for one, thought was basically placebo performance. Historians Ed Cohen ... -- Laura from Indianapolis, IN I would be interested in someone covering the placebo effect as it relates to the sponge and water that seems to be a panacea for all ailments in international soccer games. -- L W Calhoun from Atlanta The placebo effect is a form of mind control, and as such, its effects can be either positive or negative. Something works because someone believes it works. Placebo is why witchcraft works. It’s real for those who believe it’s real. Jun. 26 2013 05:03 PM -- ted from TX On the placebo effect where you compared soldiers to ordinary folks. The soldiers were generally much younger (recruits) and have been in physical training for a year or two, andthey have had it drilled into -- Prof. Riffs - I was at a UC medical conference where an award was presented to the doctor whose researched proved for certain the efficacy of the placebo effect. This was after a doctor received an IgNobel award for the same conclusion. The power of the mind is the new frontier in science, and that is why all neurologists and psychiatrists -- neurological impulses and behavioral manifestation. http://psychologyofpain.blogspot.com/2008/10/ig-nobel-prize-for-study-o n-placebo.html Jun. 22 2013 11:00 PM Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0 -- Lou Vignates Consider these terms together: "placebo effect," "spontaneous remission," "will to live," "expectation of getting better," and then consider that you don't explain anything by giving it a name. -- joyce WISH THERE WAS A PLACEBO FOR HOT FLASHES!!!! Feb. 26 2012 04:06 PM Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0 -- Kate harvard just started a program to research the placebo effect, website is www.programinplacebostudies.org Jan. 06 2012 11:54 AM -- I love the fact of the history on this topic.Medical trials still go on today with the placebo.Are you scared or is it your belief to judge this episode ? Dec. 18 2011 12:01 AM -- Professor Riffs Maybe the worst episode of Radiolab. The placebo effect is quackery extreme... I can see no reason to give it this much positive attention. Oct. 08 2011 02:44 PM -- AHodges from Indianapolis The placebo affect is the only reason homeopathic hucksters can make a buck. They sell a "remedy" that is so diluted that it doesn't have ANY active ingredient. Don't get taken for a ride by these quacks. Be an -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Q3jZw4FGs&feature=player_embedded Dr. Ben Goldacre does a stand-up routine about medicine, the placebo effect, and the mysteries of the human body at Nerdstock. Jan. 18 2011 02:06 PM -- This is so cool! I was so excited when I heard this just a couple of days ago. I have to do a science project for my biology class, and I didn't realize it but it was closely related to placebos! I'm entering into the science fair. Hope I get to nationals! Jan. 01 2011 02:30 PM -- jeffredachmd from florida Another placebo effect: A study published in JAMA reported that SSRI antidepressants are no better than placebo for most cases of depression. The authors reviewed 30 years of data and concluded that "the benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo may be minimal or nonexistent in patients with mild or moderate symptoms". ref JAMA 2010;303(1):47-53) -- Josh Here is an interesting story on NPR about placebos that work even when the patient knows what they are! -- Chris, that's a terrible story, but I think you are overreacting to this broadcast. Radiolab and the people they interviewed acknowledged the limitations of the placebo effect. Would you also fault them for exploring the wonders of Asprin merely -- Somewhat new to Radiolab, I had not heard this broadcast before. I didn't perceive this article as being about healing per se, or as espousing placebo treatments in particular, but as a conversation about what is known, and becoming more consciously known, about one of the elegant complexities of the mind. And about how we experience these -- amazing. Here is another story about who the placebo effect works. A man who went to a chiropractor for 7 years straight to receive some minor relief from the constant back pain he suffered from, was informed by