...The Placebo Effect Theodis Holmes Liberty University Abstract The placebo effect is an amazing phenomena that presents the mind with the idea that we can heal ourselves or make ourselves sick by just using our thoughts. From a psychological point of view, a person is given medication that effects the prefrontal cortex with the periaqueductal gray matter that modulates the transmission of pain information to the brain. The placebo effect allows a person to believe that something fake could become real, because of someone’s perspective of it. The placebo effect works on the neurochemistry in the brain sending pain relievers to parts of the body where the pain was, by acting as the actual pain reliever. In light of the placebo effect, it’s not what you go through that matters, it’s how you feel about it. This paper will explain the history of the placebo effect from a biblical Christian worldview, the positives and the negatives of the placebo effect, while explaining why the placebo effect is so effective. While researching for this paper, I recalled a conversation that I had with my mother a few years back; it was disclosed to me that in 1962, my grandfather was in the hospital with cancer. My mother, sister, and I were discussion the effectiveness of doctors and the generic medication that gets prescribed to certain patients who can’t afford the expensive ones. My father died three years ago from prostate cancer, two weeks after having surgery. Before the surgery...
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...The `Placebo Effect' was defined by Wolf as "any effect attributable to a pill, potion or procedure but not to it's pharmacodynamic or specific properties" (Wolf, 1959. Cited by H.Brody, 1980). To date, the placebo has played a dynamic role throughout the history and development of medicine. Substances with no perceivable pharmacological benefit such as spiders, crocodile dung and human excrement have been prescribed up until the beginning of modern scientific medicine to treat various maladies. Obviously each of these substances induced a `Placebo Effect' in order to achieve the desired result as the treatment itself had no real medical value. However, as the medical sciences developed further, the incredible power of the placebo effect was anything but discredited - the power of the human mind in it's self-healing was deemed by clinicians as `voluminous'. It is quite profound, for instance, how a patient will commonly react much better when they are administered with a placebogenic injection as opposed to a lesser response from a tablet or capsule. This infers that the reaction received will vary in proportion to how potent the patient feels their treatment really is; obviously with the injection seeming to be the most potent agent. It is in conjunction with these hypotheses that the therapeutic sciences such as psychotherapy are formulated. It is also through the application of various forms of these `insight therapies' (communication therapy) that the use...
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...Health care providers may use placebos intentionally or unintentionally. When used intentionally, as in giving a sugar pill for pain or prescribing oral vitamins for fatigue, an element of deception is involved. The doctor does not believe the treatment is effective for the condition but believes it will be helpful for the patient because of the patient’s belief in the doctor’s prescription. This is an ethically compromised position regardless of the possible benefit to be derived and usually is not considered acceptable practice. Unintentionally, providers often create placebo responses just by their enthusiastic endorsement of and belief in a treatment. In this case, there is no deception, as the provider genuinely believes in the treatment...
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...The Placebo Effect The activity I chose to write about was on Dr. Walter A. Brown’s article in Scientific American about placebos and their effect on the patients. His article described what a placebo is and if it is ethical for doctors to prescribe this treatment to their patients. Dr. Brown, who is a psychologist at Brown University, decided to do a study on the effects of a placebo. A placebo is any treatment or drug with no medicinal value that is given to a patient to relieve symptoms of an ailment. His hypothesis in the article focused on if the placebos had any effect on the patients who took the placebos. To test his hypothesis, Dr. Brown and his colleagues performed experiments on patients who had depression. To test his idea, he employed what is known as the double blind technique. This type of experimentation involves that neither the doctors nor the patients know if they are receiving the real stuff or simply sugar pills (placebos). Only the experimenters know who gets what. What this supposedly does is that the patient will mentally think that the doctor is giving him/her the real drug and they will soon be feeling better. When in reality, it is themselves, not the medicine, which makes them feel better. These are the findings of Dr. Brown. In his experiments on the placebos, he found that the placebo can make a person feel better, but it can also have no effect what-so-ever. In his study of the depressed patients, about 50% of the subjects...
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...As much as people dispute, the placebo isn’t a replacement for medicine. It is still a lookalike false treatment even if it can produce the same results as actual medicine. Moreover, what is called a ‘placebo effect’ may have an explanation, one that certainly isn’t real treatment. Like any other power, the placebo effect also has its limits, as well as its possible reverse effect. Steven Novella (2010), an assistant professor of neurology in Yale University, describes the placebo effect as the result of the circumstances of the disease, bias, physiological effects, or the desire for success (Placebo Effects, para. 1-4). The circumstances of the condition are completely independent from human interference or bias. Some diseases exist in phases. These phases can be described as the high and low points of discomfort. What is sometimes considered a placebo effect is just the condition entering its milder phase. It isn’t even a cure; it’s only chance. The other three classifications all involve human interference. All three of them can vary in...
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...The placebo effect is most commonly used with medical research such as with types of sicknesses but is less commonly used in other ways as well. Typically when a patient or subject is given a placebo they report back with positive results, showing the placebo was effective. When given a placebo, the subconscious mind uses what is told will happen so it can achieve the expected result that is to occur. (Derren Brown – The Placebo Effect) When a patient is given a placebo it can either cause a positive or a negative effect on that specific patient, the results can widely vary based on the condition of the patient when they are given the placebo or even the time when the patient is given the placebo. One of the most common theories, if not the...
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...that how placebos are administered plays a very important role in their ability to cause physiological changes in the body. A trained acupuncturist, Kaptchuck has tested the treatment's ability to work as a placebo by offering his patients qualitatively different treatments. In other words, patients who receive more care and "schmaltz" from their medical professional tend to receive the greatest benefit from sham treatments. Kaptchuk wonders to what extend, if at all, Western medicine can take advantage of the placebo effect to improve treatment. Whats the big idea? For decades, the medical establishment has treated all placebo effects equally but Kaptchuk's studies show the importance of how fake treatments are administered. What has become most clear is that, despite the emphasis Western medicine places on material and chemical changes, medicine is a ritualistic event. Beyond the science of pharmaceuticals is the science of care, a role which encompasses how pills affect our physiology. Critics argue that were placebos to be encouraged in the practice of medicine, patients could delay other treatments with longer- lasting benefits. Similar to the placebo effect, in which a fake medication can give patients the benefits of having taken the real drug, the nocebo effect is the little-studied fact that patients taking a fake drug can also experience real negative side effects. "In one remarkable case, a participant in an antidepressant drug trial was given placebo tablets—and...
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...Placebos and Nocebos With and Without Deception and their Effect on Cognitive Performance NAME University of Sydney Abstract Past research has produced conflicting conclusions about the effectiveness placebos with and without deception. It has been argued that, although placebos sometimes appear to be more effective with deceptive administration, it is not an ethical way to carry out research or provide treatment. This study aimed to determine whether a significant placebo effect could be achieved through deceptive as well as open administration. Cognitive performance was measured and results were collected for both positive and negative outcomes. The 512 participants were given different instructions and suggestions about the placebo (or nocebo) and then asked to sniff an odour while completing a visual search task. Results indicated that both placebos and nocebos require deception to have a significant effect. Groups with open administration did not show significant effects. It was also shown that odour did not have an effect on performance. Further research is needed to investigate different ways to introduce a placebo to patients, for example, alternative wording in instructions and suggestions. Placebos and Nocebos With and Without Deception and their Effect on Cognitive Performance Many researchers have been interested in determining the most effective and ethical way to administer a placebo. The placebo...
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...Placebos are simply a substance given or an action done to give hope and cause responses in the body when possibly other therapeutic methods have been having no effect. Ted Kaptchuk, who is a professor at the Harvard School of Medicine, describes placebo effects as an “inert substance” (8). As so, Kaptchuk goes on to say that “placebos provide relief, they rarely cure” (8). Since they provide some type of relief, placebos have similarities to therapeutic medicinal practices. Every prescription bottle full of pills, if purchased legally at a drug store, has a label on it describing possible side effects. Placebos, like medicine from a drug store, can have possible side effects. According to Cara Feinberg, who wrote about one of Ted Kaptchuk’s clinical trials, a study was done involving two hundred- seventy subjects who suffer from severe are pain with conditions such as carpal tunnel and tendinitis. During this study one third of the two hundred-seventy subjects complained of severe side effects. The rest of the patients claimed to have some relief. At the beginning of the study half of the subjects were given pills to ease the pain while the other half were given acupuncture treatment. The patients experiencing the side effects who got the pills began to feel drowsy, while the patients who had the acupuncture treatment...
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...S0895-4356(97)00203-5 The Powerful Placebo Effect: Fact or Fiction? Gunver S. Kienle* and Helmut Kiene ¨ Institut fur Angewandte Erkenntnistheorie und Medizinische Methodologie, D-79112 Freiburg, Germany ABSTRACT. In 1955, Henry K. Beecher published the classic work entitled ‘‘The Powerful Placebo.’’ Since that time, 40 years ago, the placebo effect has been considered a scientific fact. Beecher was the first scientist to quantify the placebo effect. He claimed that in 15 trials with different diseases, 35% of 1082 patients were satisfactorily relieved by a placebo alone. This publication is still the most frequently cited placebo reference. Recently Beecher’s article was reanalyzed with surprising results: In contrast to his claim, no evidence was found of any placebo effect in any of the studies cited by him. There were many other factors that could account for the reported improvements in patients in these trials, but most likely there was no placebo effect whatsoever. False impressions of placebo effects can be produced in various ways. Spontaneous improvement, fluctuation of symptoms, regression to the mean, additional treatment, conditional switching of placebo treatment, scaling bias, irrelevant response variables, answers of politeness, experimental subordination, conditioned answers, neurotic or psychotic misjudgment, psychosomatic phenomena, misquotation, etc. These factors are still prevalent in modern placebo literature. The placebo topic seems to invite sloppy...
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...The idea of the placebo effect has been around for centuries. Placebos were originally used to please patients when a successful treatment wasn’t available. It was never thought that a placebo might actually improve the health of a patient or cure them in any way (Kerr). Many experiments have been conducted to determine how successful placebos are capable of being. As placebo studies become more efficient and more data is collected, doctors have begun to prescribe placebos more frequently. People have started to understand the positive effects placebos are capable of having; therefore, in order to benefit the maximum number of people, placebos should be prescribed in hospitals through doctors. Placebos should be prescribed by doctors because they are an inexpensive way to improve the health of the patients physically and mentally. There are many reasons that prescribed placebos are beneficial. One reason is that they are an inexpensive way to get treatment. For some people,...
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...Running Head: Placebos Paris Barnett Placebos Ethical vs. Unethical Dr. Boehm April 21, 2014 Introduction The placebo drug, commonly known as the “sugar pill”, is a drug used by many physicians and doctors to test their patients on mind-control and their behavior to a trial or experiment. Patients however, do not know they are given the placebo and routinely report changes in their behavior and/or state of being. Many even report the symptoms of the drug they originally thought they were receiving. The articles used are common studies of the Placebo Effect. The first article is about the unethical use of the placebo and how many persons are deceived by the drug that encompasses their body. The second article speaks on the clinical and neurobiology aspects of placebo drugs. The third article is a study that Dove manufactured for women and their inner beauty; the study went viral throughout the United States very quickly. All three articles build upon one another to show how science has evolved throughout the years. Study Dove composed a research study in which participants were to use a patch to make them feel more beautiful than they already felt. They wanted to see if women would be able to feel their inner beauty by themselves or would they need help from a stimulant of some sort. They used several different women; of different races and backgrounds, to make the trial study a reality. The women were to place the RB-X, or beauty patch, on their...
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...Maria Ivy B. Jovellanos Marketing Management, Saturday 9am- 12nn Prof. Ringo M. Gamboa San Beda College-Graduate School of Business Art. 5: Placebo effects of marketing actions: consumers may get what they pay for Welcome to the power of the placebo effect. A placebo is a substance that does not actually provide the promised benefit. In other words, it’s not real. The placebo effect, however, is very existent. Researches done in the past prove that placebos have resulted in true beneficial results - give a group of patients a sugar pill instead of a medication with active ingredients, and some of them will show an improvement in their sickness. The placebo effect works in very real ways because people consciously believe the treatment will work. Not only that but the experience of being treated, even with a “fake” medication creates subconscious associations that lead to recovery. The world of medicine sees it as remarkable evidence of human capacity for self-healing. But what relevance does it have for marketers? Belief and experience are two vital ingredients of effective marketing. In other words, the things we buy fulfill our expectations if belief and experience remain consistent. Simply, marketers know that if they can create a positive expectation in the mind of their customers, and then not do anything to contradict that expectation then they have a good chance that the customer will find that...
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...ESSAY 1993. Topic 10: Discuss the concept of the Placebo Effect and how it pertains to the real-life practice of Pharmacy and Medicine. "The Power of Thought - the Magic of the Mind!" (Lord George Byron. Cited by K.L. Roberts, 1940). How true, the human mind is undoubtedly quite magical. It's complexities stretch beyond our own horizons of comprehension and reach out into the mystic of the unknown. The mind possesses powers unrivalled by anything else - powers which extend to the self-healing of the human body with no aid other than faith - alias `the power of thought!' The use of the Placebo in medicine and pharmacy harnesses this incredible power and instigates the phenomenal self-healing process. The `Placebo Effect' has been used extensively throughout the history of medicine. Physicians have discovered the power of the human mind in healing and have tried to utilise this to it's full potential in all applicable aspects of therapeutic intervention. This report aims to discuss the Placebo Effect, it's power and history in relation to other forms of therapy, Case studies, the Ethical issues involved and whether they should be used or not. The `Placebo Effect' was defined by Wolf as "any effect attributable to a pill, potion or procedure but not to it's pharmacodynamic or specific properties" (Wolf, 1959. Cited by H.Brody, 1980). To date, the placebo has played a dynamic role throughout the history and development...
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...The Placebo Effect For years, scientists have sought to find an explanation for the placebo effect. Although many hypotheses exist, there is no one reason defining why or how the placebos work. Some researchers argue that the phenomenon doesn't even occur; that the placebo effect is merely random mistake and that any improvement said to be caused by a placebo is only a spontaneous recovery in the patient's condition. Other scientists argue that Pavlovian conditioning supports an explanation for the effect: If patients have previously shown improvement from being in a medical setting or from taking medicine, they are conditioned to experience positive effects every time they are in the same situation. A second explanation for the placebo effect is that any drug (or placebo) given to a patient will reduce their stress levels. Because many illnesses begin under high-stress circumstances, or exhibit more extreme symptoms under stressful situations, many of the patient's symptoms are likely to improve. The first question that must be answered before researching into the expectations behind the placebo effect is whether or not the wonder even exists. Certain physicians and scientists claim that "positive effects" of a placebo are, in reality, just the body's natural ways of healing itself and the immune system's defenses kicking in soon after the placebo is taken. Basically, these researchers argue that improvement in a patient's condition after being administered a placebo...
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