It is believed that the placebo effect works because people think that they are taking a real drug.
Some researchers have found that placebos work even when administered without the seemingly requisite deception.
Placebos, or dummy pills contain no active ingredients, patients often respond to them. In fact, data on placebos is so compelling that many American physicians (one study estimates 50 percent) secretly give placebos to unsuspecting patients.
Because such “deception” is ethically questionable, the researchers wanted to explore whether or not the power of placebos can be harnessed honestly and respectfully.
Science Daily reports:
“To do this, 80 patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were divided into two groups: one group, the controls, received no treatment, while the other group received a regimen of placebos — honestly described as “like sugar pills” — which they were instructed to take twice daily.
.. By the end of the trial, nearly twice as many patients treated with the placebo reported adequate symptom relief … Also, on other outcome measures, patients taking the placebo doubled their rates of improvement to a degree roughly equivalent to the effects of the most powerful IBS medications.”
[Source]
Chapter: Health :: 8 May 2011
