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even help the body heal. The mind can even sometimes trick you into believing
that a fake treatment has real therapeutic results, a phenomenon that is known as
the placebo effect. In some cases, these placebos can exert an influence
powerful enough to mimic the effects of real medical treatments.
But the placebo effect is much more than just positive thinking. When this
response to a fake treatment occurs, many patients have no idea that they are
responding to what is essentially a "sugar pill." Placebos are often utilized in
medical research to help doctors and scientists discover and better understand
the physiological and psychological effects of new medications.
In most cases, the person who does not know that the treatment they are
receiving is actually a placebo. Instead, they believe that they are the recipient
of the real treatment. The placebo is designed to seem exactly like the real
treatment, whether it is a pill, injection, or consumable liquid, yet the substance
has no actual effect on the illness or condition it purports to treat.
It is important to note that a "placebo" and the "placebo effect" are different
things. The term placebo refers to the inactive substance itself, while the term
placebo effect refers to any effects of taking a medicine that cannot be attributed
to the treatment itself.
While a placebo has no effect on illness, it can have a very real effect on how
some people feel. Just how strong this effect might be depends on a variety of
factors. Some things that can influence the placebo effect include:
When testing out new medications and other treatment approaches, scientists
are interested in learning about whether this new treatment has value for treating
an illness that outweighs any potential risks. Through their research, they want
to learn if the treatment is effective, the sort of side effects it might produce,
which patients may benefit the most and whether it is more or less effective than
other treatments that are already available.
For example, let's imagine that a participant has volunteered for a study to
determine the effectiveness of a new headache drug. After taking the drug, she
finds that her headache quickly dissipates, and she feels much better. However,
she later learns that she was in the placebo group and that the drug she was
given was just a sugar pill.
One of the most studied and strongest placebo effects is in the reduction of pain.
According to some estimates, approximately 30 to 60 percent of people will feel
that their pain has diminished after taking a placebo pill.
In some cases, even real medical treatments can benefit from the placebo effect.
Researchers have found that how positively the effectiveness of a treatment is
conveyed by a physician has an effect on how well patients respond to the
treatment.
Even though placebos contain no real treatment, researchers have found they
can have a variety of both physical and psychological effects. Participants in
placebo groups have displayed changes in heart rate, blood pressure, anxiety
levels, pain perception, fatigue, and even brain activity. These effects point to
the brain's role in health and well-being.
Causes
While researchers know that the placebo effect works, they do not yet fully
understand exactly how and why this effect occurs. Research is ongoing as to
why some people experience changes even when they are only receiving a
placebo. A number of different factors may contribute to explanations for this
phenomenon.
Placebos May Trigger Hormone Responses
Researchers have been able to demonstrate the placebo effect in action using
brain scans, showing that areas that contain many opiate receptors were
activated in both the placebo and treatment groups. Naloxone is an opioid
antagonist that blocks both natural endorphins and opioid drugs. Using
naloxone, placebo pain relief is reduced.
Expectations Can Influence Placebo Responses
Other possible explanations include conditioning, motivation, and expectation.
In some cases, a placebo can be paired with an actual treatment until it comes to
evoke the desired effect, an example of classical conditioning. People who are
highly motivated to believe that a treatment will work, or who had a treatment
work previously, may be more likely to experience a placebo effect.