Despite the cries of baloney, the placebo effect is a subject of lots of interesting well designed research. One of my favorite studies was where the patients were told they were to receive a pain medication. Some were told it was an inexpensive pill, others that it was extremely expensive. JAMA. 2008 Mar 5;299(9):1016-7
Of course you know which pill worked better.
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1965 Apr;12:36-45.
" In one study that used placebos, the patients were even told openly that they were receiving a tablet without any active substance. The only additional comment that was allowed was that “it had helped many people.” Despite the objective information about the absence of any active ingredient, this positive remark ensured that the placebo administration was effective in 13 out of 14 patients and reduced their subjective symptoms by 41%"
There is even an opposite situation where the patient believes that a medication will make him worse. Give him a placebo and sure enough a significant number will have the "side effect" they expected.
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