11 Surprising Facts About Placebos
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Introduction
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Early placebo research was done in the 18th century for consumer protection.
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Even real treatments benefit from the placebo effect.
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"Placebo" and "the placebo effect" refer to different things.
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There is a "nocebo" effect.
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Many clinical trials no longer include placebos.
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Placebos have a long-term, demonstrated effect in relieving pain.
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Tender points on the neck are one sign of fibromyalgia -
Scientists don't know if certain groups of people are more susceptible to placebos.
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The placebo effect is actually several effects.
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Psychiatric illnesses are among the conditions most susceptible to placebos.
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The brain is made up of an inconceivable number of cells. -
Not all placebos are created equal.
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Drugs, when taken in combination, can cause severe side effects. -
Placebo does not equal being duped.
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The placebo effect plays a central role in doctors' understanding of whether medications work.
The effects of a placebo, or "dummy," treatment cannot come from the actual treatment itself. In other words, the placebo effect explains why people report feeling better when they think they are taking medicine, but aren't actually receiving the treatment. (The word placebo comes from the Latin for "I will please.")
The placebo effect can help explain why drugs and other treatments with no value can seem to work, and therefore, why some treatments pass muster while others do not.
However, the placebo effect itself remains mysterious. Doctors still have questions about how it operates, and why its effect can be large, small or nonexistent for a given treatment or patient.
The following pages share some of the history, knowledge and misconceptions about the placebo effect.
