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Elliptigo Girl's avatar

Agreeing with Istvan here. I don't find this study surprising at all. The placebo effect is certainly real. It has been demonstrated over and over. And the placebo effect could be simply an excellent example of the power of confirmation bias and selective perception. But why is this placebo effect so powerful? Being in the medical field myself, I have had a discussion on this topic with other medical professionals. We as a society really don't know much about how disease, immunity, healing, and other physiological processes work.There is however an established correlation between stress levels and various hormones and biochemicals. Perhaps one of the most effective weapons we have in our current healthcare arsenal is (sadly) the ability to somehow guide people towards letting their bodies best able to deal with whatever condition they incur. But then the ethics of cost come up. Will the placebo be less effective if it is labeled a "sugar pill" or "sham treatment" and is given at minimal charge? For most people, yes.

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Stephen Diamond's avatar

You think, then, that's there's a widespread practice of prescribing placebos, which evades detection by patients and discussion by the public because no one has an interest in challenging it and patients are gullible about accepting arcane labels?

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