Comments on: Take two placebos and call me in the morning.

By: christmas present

christmas present — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:46:47 +0000

A bit harsh some of the comments, we’re not taking into account the human body’s ability to repair itself. Terms like “healthy mind a healthy body” “a laugh a day keeps the doctor away” have all proved good medicine in the past. Then you also have to take into account alternative and complementary medicine, which is not really my cup of tea but some people rave about Reiki, also how easy is it to stop a child crying after a fall, depending on what the parent does or says can sometimes depend on the child’s reaction even when there is a genuine “minor” injury, would that the placebo?

By: kranky kritter

kranky kritter — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:56:40 +0000

Don’t you have to assume that the people who are screened for these studies actually have a diagnosed affliction?

Good point, I think you do. But what sorts of diagnosed afflictions? Don’t you have to wonder what the effectiveness of placebos is against depression and anxiety and insomnia and other mental afflictions as opposed to a drug that treats your cholesterol level?

By: mw

mw — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:30:41 +0000

@eimajine
Certainly a possibility. But these are scientific studies of screened subjects that Silberman references, not anecdotes, and he is reporting a real and large statistical shift. Don’t you have to assume that the people who are screened for these studies actually have a diagnosed affliction? And what to make of follow-up studies that show drugs that were once shown to be more effective than placebo, now are not?

I am leaning the other way, that some drugs being developed and promoted are actually far less than meets the eye, that much of their clinical benefit actually derives from a “placebo effect”. They are in effect – super placebos, benefiting from the same mechanism, but designed to enhance the effect through packaging and marketing. One could make the case that the kind of saturation drug advertising we’ve seen in recent years,increases and reinforces a pervasive belief system – a belief that the solution to all of life’s ills, can be found in a pill.

By: Eimajine

Eimajine — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:40:51 +0000

What about the possibility that more people believe they’re sick than really are? If an illness is “in your head,” then the cure can be, too. I know far too many people who are defined by their illness(es). I don’t think they’d have anything to talk about if they were well. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of these people’s conditions improved after taking a placebo. As long as they still have something to talk about – their doctor, their treatment, etc.

I know that may not be the complete answer to the increase in the effectiveness of placebos. There’s likely to be something else going on, too. It will be interesting to see what future studies find.

By: gerryf

gerryf — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:10:54 +0000

Doesn’t surprise me–we are a much more gullible and empassioned people, in many respects. Given the fervor with which people will believe anything these days (Obama is not a US citizen, Iran was behind 9-11, Iran had WMD, FOX News is fair and balaced, Sarah Palin was opposed to taking largesse from Washington, etc), and given how people cling to these notions despite obvious facts to the contrary, all one needs to do is accept that the mind is a powerful curative.

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Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:54:45 +0000

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