Editorials

The placebo effect: can we use it better?

Shapiro defined a placebo as any treatment deliberately used for non-specific psychological or psychophysiological effect.¹ That the placeo effect, a classic example of the mind-body relation, is as clinically undeveloped as it is pervasive may reflect the dominance of modern chemotherapy. The placebo depends on largely subconscious interactions between the doctor, the treatment process, and the patient^{1 2}; it is the form of a treatment without its substance.

In practice, placebo treatment usually consists of a dummy medication or an intervention, which ranges from surgery to history taking. Placebo medication commonly operates through the administration of a substance, either pharmacologically active (a drug) or inert. The net effect of a given drug is thus the sum of the drug's pharmacological effects and the placebo effect associated with the act of treatment.³

The use of . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

The placebo effect Wrong patients receive treatment

M Dixon, J Chalmers, J R Price, and D B Double
BMJ 1994 309: 667. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Cho, H. J., Hotopf, M., Wessely, S. (2005). The Placebo Response in the Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Psychosom. Med. 67: 301-313 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Hrobjartsson, A., Norup, M. (2003). The Use of Placebo Interventions in Medical Practice--A National Questionnaire Survey of Danish Clinicians. Eval Health Prof 26: 153-165 [Abstract]  
• Wetzel, M. S., Kaptchuk, T. J., Haramati, A., Eisenberg, D. M. (2003). Complementary and Alternative Medical Therapies: Implications for Medical Education. ANN INTERN MED 138: 191-196 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Mayberg, H. S., Silva, J. A., Brannan, S. K., Tekell, J. L., Mahurin, R. K., McGinnis, S., Jerabek, P. A. (2002). The Functional Neuroanatomy of the Placebo Effect. Am. J. Psychiatry 159: 728-737 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Hrobjartsson, A., Gotzsche, P. C. (2001). Is the Placebo Powerless?- An Analysis of Clinical Trials Comparing Placebo with No Treatment. NEJM 344: 1594-1602 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Preston, R. A., Materson, B. J., Reda, D. J., Williams, D. W. (2000). Placebo-Associated Blood Pressure Response and Adverse Effects in the Treatment of Hypertension: Observations From a Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study. Arch Intern Med 160: 1449-1454 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Adler, L., Muller, D., Lawrence, C., Loefler, I. J.P., Abramowicz, M., Beigel, Y. (1999). Diagnosing Lead Poisoning. NEJM 340: 568-569 [Full text]  
• Hira, K., Fukui, T., Endoh, A., Rahman, M., Maekawa, M. (1998). Influence of superstition on the date of hospital discharge and medical cost in Japan: retrospective and descriptive study. BMJ 317: 1680-1683 [Abstract] [Full text]