Hey, Doc, I’d prefer some sugar pills for my ills
Very interesting news about the placebo effect. Irving Kirsch whose 2010 book The Emperor’s New Drugs created such a stir is one of the main authors of the study. Another of the authors is Ted Kapchuk, the acupuncturist, who has been studying the placebo effect for many years.
The following is from the blog Neurotribes by Steve Silberman:
A provocative new study called “Placebos Without Deception,” published on PLoS One today, threatens to make humble sugar pills something they’ve rarely had a chance to be in the history of medicine: a respectable, ethically sound treatment for disease that has been vetted in controlled trials…
for the whole story via Meet the Ethical Placebo
The research report can be found here at Placebos Without Deception.
November 15, 2011 at 11:40 am
Based on the placebo effect concept, knowing that one is being charged pharma gouging prices for a sugar pill definately will never cure the patient. Might as well make a sugar pill at home for free and be happy, or eschew cola drinks and add the pill to some green tea!