A placebo is a medical treatment that doesn’t contain any kind of medicine. In fact, it contains no active ingredients at all. But in many cases, placebos can have a therapeutic and sometimes dramatic effect. Placebos are nothing new and have been used for centuries.
The Placebo in Trials
To determine if a new drug is more effective than no therapy at all, researchers must account for the placebo effect
- Simply receiving medicine is likely to influence some patients
- The gold standard of drug testing is the double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT)
- In an RCT, some of the patients receive the actual drug while others receive a placebo
- Neither the researchers nor the patients know who gets the drug and who gets placebo
How it Works is Unknown
The placebo effect is not universal, though Beecher suggested that as many as 35 percent of people may be susceptible to the effect.
- Researchers have observed placebos producing changes in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as relieving pain, depression, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome.
- Placebos aren’t limited to pills and tinctures.
No Deceit Necessary
For all the good a placebo might do, lying to patients is not ethical
- In clinical trials, participants know that they may be in the group that gets a placebo
- Placebos work even when patients know they’re getting a placebo
