Ariel Moser

Information Effect Project

Teerlink

October 27 2018

Information Effect Project

Jennifer Bui/Shutterstock/Mikistock

For centuries, the use of a placebo pill has been used to treat diseases and disorders such

as major depressive disorder, sleep disorders, anxiety, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic pain

and other psychological disorders.1 Placebo pills contain inactive ingredients such as saline or

sugar and have been used to determine the effectiveness of a drug that is being tested in a clinical

trial.

1
L. Anderson (2018, April 8) What is a Placebo? Web. Retrieved October 27, 2018 from
https://www.drugs.com/article/placebo-effect.html
ALEXANDER KHORUZHENKO/SHUTTERSTOCK

The placebo effect came into light after Scottish physician William Cullen came

up with idea of treating the outbreak of smallpox and typhoid fever with sympathy and an inert

substance such as mint water. Centuries later, war surgeon Henry Beecher published an article

claiming that one-third of all patients could be cured by placebos alone.2 Some researchers have

even gone to the extent of performing fake acupuncture and even sham surgeries.

2
Dold, K. Marton, H. (2011) Placebo Effect: Fake Pill, Real Power. ​Women’s Health Magazine. ​Web.
Retrieved November 5, 2018 from ​https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19911731/placebo-effect/
Javier Zarracina/Vox

“The Placebo effect is the most interesting phenomenon in all of science. It’s at the precise

interface of biology and psychology and the placebo response is growing bigger over time.”

explains Jeffrey Mogil, the McGill University pain researcher who discovered a trend in

double-blind placebo control trials for new pain drugs where the pain medication itself was

decreasing in making it through the trial.3

3
B. Resnick (July 7, 2017) The weird power of the Placebo effect, explained. Web. Retrieved October 27
2018 from ​https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/7/15792188/placebo-effect-explained
Istock

In most cases, a group of patients receive the experimental drug, and the remaining

patients receive a placebo pill. Neither group knows if they are taking the actual drug or the

inactive pill, and neither do the doctors administering treatment, which is referred to as a

double-blind clinical trial. The effect that the placebo pill has on the patients has been understood

to improve the patient’s condition and has been understandably labeled as the placebo effect.
 gbrundin/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Although the Placebo effect has been studied by numerous experts, we still aren’t sure

why exactly the prescription of a placebo is so effective. Some argue that the brain responds

powerfully to positive thinking, while others say that both the brain and body respond physically

and psychologically to a ritual of treatment, similar to Pavlov’s dog.4

4
​ ages 64-69 Retrieved
Sifferlin, Alexandra (2018) Placebo’s New Power, ​Time Magazine, Volume 192, P
October 29, 2018 from Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
Robert H. Shmerling/Harvard Health Publishing

The use of Placebos in treatment has been used throughout history. President Thomas

Jefferson once wrote to a friend detailing a successful physician’s use of the Placebo effect

stating that the doctor gave out “more bread pills, drops of coloured water, and powders of

hickory ashes, than of all other medicines put together.” 5

5
​ ages 64-69 Retrieved
Sifferlin, Alexandra (2018) Placebo’s New Power, ​Time Magazine, Volume 192, P
October 29, 2018 from Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
 Amazon.com

In the modern world, you can purchase your own honest placebo pills which came from a

study conducted by students at Harvard Medical School. The researchers conducted a clinical

trial implementing the first open-label placebo on people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Some

argued that labeling the placebo would defeat the purpose of the placebo, if you knew you were

ingesting a sugar or saline pill. The results were surprising, in which nearly twice as many people

in the trial that were prescribed the placebo experienced symptom relief equal to the effects of

two different IBS medications used at the time.6

6
​ ages 64-69 Retrieved
Sifferlin, Alexandra (2018) Placebo’s New Power, ​Time Magazine, Volume 192, P
October 29, 2018 from Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
 ayo88/123RF Stock Photo

Sometimes, individuals will experience side effects to an inactive placebo pill which is

referred to as the nocebo response, the term literally meaning “will harm”7. Research has been

done by a team at University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany and it has

shown that the cost of the treatment can have an effect on the patient’s response.8 The patient’s

experience with doctor, the patient’s expectations, previous doctor encounters and the price of

the drug or the treatment are all contributing factors to a possible nocebo response.

7
Grisold, W., Grisold, S. (2018) Placebo, nocebo and no treatment. ​Revista Mexicana de Neurociencia
July/August 2018, Vol. 19, Issue 4, pages 4-15. Retrieved October 30, 2018 from Academic Search
Ultimate (EBSCO)
8
Bree, D. (2018) The Nocebo Effect - The Flip Side of Placebo - Carries a High Price. ​Relief: Pain
Research News, Insights and Ideas. R ​ etrieved October 30, 2018 from
http://relief.news/the-nocebo-effect-the-flip-side-of-placebo-carries-a-high-price/
 Kristen Dold and Hanna Marton/Women’s Health

The placebo effect came into light after Scottish physician William Cullen came up with

idea of treating the outbreak of smallpox and typhoid fever with sympathy and an inert substance

such as mint water. Centuries later, war surgeon Henry Beecher published an article claiming

that one-third of all patients could be cured by placebos alone.9 Some researchers have even gone

to the extent of performing fake acupuncture and even sham surgeries.

9
Dold, K. Marton, H. (2011) Placebo Effect: Fake Pill, Real Power. ​Women’s Health Magazine. ​Web.
Retrieved November 5, 2018 from ​https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19911731/placebo-effect/
 iStockphoto.com

With the increasing studies on how the placebo effect treats diseases and health problems,

there is an increasing power of the effect itself. There are different studies on what the effect has

been used for and what has been treated because of it. Even ingesting an open-label placebo, you

can still experience relief in your diagnosis, and that power still baffles researchers to this day.