Doctors Find that Placebos Work Even when the Patient Knows that They Are Taking a "Sugar Pill"

Joe is in his fifties. He is in relatively good health except he has type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, both of which are controlled by oral medication. He has recently joined a fitness program at a local health club. He has been assigned a personal trainer to put him through his paces three times a week.

Joe would also like to lose about 30 pounds. He has regained most of his middle-aged spread. A few months ago Joe went on a pretty extreme diet for a couple of months and went from about 200 pounds down to an almost ideal weight of 170. But then he went back to his normal diet like most of us do and regained all of the weight that he had lost.

Joe has been saving up all of his nickels and dimes so he can take an early retirement from his job of 28 years. He'd like to retire early so he has time to enjoy his retirement before he gets too old. He recently saw an ad in the newspaper about test subjects that are wanted for a study of a new investigational drug. The study paid cash money. Joe signed up for it.

The drug test is a double-blind controlled study. That means that both the doctors conducting the study and the patients don't know what the drug is, or who gets the real drug and who gets the placebo. Joe is currently going through a physical examination to see what his health is.

Then he will be given either the new drug or a placebo, or sugar pill. Then he will be monitored for any kind of side effects or other unusual signs. I guess that the new drug will fall into a category and that will give the researchers some idea of what kind of side effects to look for.

The thing about a placebo is that they have been known to have some kind of effect for a long time. Up until now it was thought that this effect was "all in the person's head." In other words, the placebo works because the person believes that he is taking a real pill. But now some new research has changed that assumption. According to Medical News Today:

"Researchers at Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that placebos work even when administered without the seemingly requisite deception. The study published on December 22 in PLoS ONE."

Placebos have an amazing effect. It has always been believed that the power of the mind has a lot to do with sickness and health. The power of placebos are so amazing that it has recently been revealed than 50% of all doctors secretly give them to their patients without their knowing about it.

A lot of patients want some kind of a pill for the condition that is bothering them and won't take no for an answer. They think that the pill is working and it does. If the doctor gives them a "dummy pill" then he is also off the hook. He's done something even if the condition would have resolved itself over time.

The patients in this study were flat out told that they were taking a placebo. It even said "placebo" right on the bottle. The test subjects still experienced a relief of their symptoms, 59% vs. 35% for the control group that received no medication at all.

The researchers think that besides "positive thinking" there may be a benefit from the simple act of taking the pill.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/212257.php