Editorials

The power of placebo

Links are revealed this week between the colour of a pill, its name, and its pharmacological action (pp 1624, 1627).^{1 2} This news will come as no surprise to many. Pink pills and tonics were the mainstay of many physicians--perhaps their main resource--before the era of antibiotics. But what are the active ingredients of the placebo effect and how can we make the best use of it?

Many non-specific concomitants of treatments help to determine the direction and size of the placebo effect. These can be placed on a continuum ranging from the tangible to the intangible.³ The form of medications, touch, words, gestures, and the ambience of the consultation can all play a part in conveying a doctor's confidence in a treatment, empathy with the patient, and professional status.^{4 5 6} Non-specific aspects of the remedy itself can also have a powerful influence; . . . [Full text of this article]

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• Temple, R. J. (2003). Implications of Effects in Placebo Groups. JNCI J Natl Cancer Inst 95: 2-3 [Full text]  
• Caspi, O., Bootzin, R. R. (2002). Evaluating How Placebos Produce Change: Logical and Causal Traps and Understanding Cognitive Explanatory Mechanisms. Eval Health Prof 25: 436-464 [Abstract]  
• 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]  
• ERNST, E (1999). Evidence-based complementary medicine: A contradiction in terms?. Ann Rheum Dis 58: 69-70 [Full text]  
• Ernst, E. (1999). Complementary/Alternative Medicine for Asthma : We Do Not Know What We Need To Know. Chest 115: 1-3 [Full text]  
• Allan, H. (1997). Reflexivity: A comment on feminist ethnography. Journal of Research in Nursing 2: 455-467 [Abstract]