What is the placebo effect?

You may have heard of something called the “placebo effect.” Essentially, this term describes when a person feels better after a treatment not because the treatment is effective, but because the person thinks it will help.

 

When researchers want to find out if a medication or medical device is effective, they will conduct a clinical trial - a study using human test subjects. Clinical trials are carefully designed according to professional ethical guidelines to protect the safety of those who participate and to inform participants of potential risks.

In many clinical trials, some of the participants will be given a placebo. A placebo is a “dummy” treatment that is given to someone so that person does not realize he or she is not receiving a real treatment. A common example of a placebo is a sugar pill. A placebo can be an inactive pill, liquid or powder, or it can be a sham version of a real treatment.

The power of belief in healing is massive. It was once estimated that about one-third of all healing occurred simply because the person believed the treatment would work.  This is called the placebo effect.  Some researchers theorize that as much as two-thirds of all healing occurs because of the person's positive beliefs. Placebos have been proven effective in relieving the very real symptoms of colds, headaches, seasickness, angina, anxiety, and post-operative pain.

The placebo effect is a reaction in the body that occurs when a subject is given an inert substance and told that it will result in improvement or a change in their condition and it happens.  Placebos are commonly used in clinical trials where the subjects do not know whether they are getting the active treatment or a placebo.  

The placebo effect can be quite high and in some studies can last quite a long time.  It is based on the patient’s expectation and motivation.  Some may look at this in a negative light.  However, I see it as a reflection of the power that we all possess in our mind to facilitate healing.  The placebo effect is a testament to that.

A placebo is a pill or treatment chosen to have no impact on the research subject (also called a “sugar pill”). The placebo effect is an outcome where the subject receiving a "sugar pill" or placebo experiences an improvement in condition or symptoms, despite the fact that the treatment is known to be impotent.

A placebo effect is an improvement in the symptoms of a disease or condition when a person is treated with a drug or other treatment that he or she expects to work, even though the treatment has not been proven effective. When a drug or treatment seems to work for some people but has not been scientifically proven to be any more effective than a "sugar pill" (placebo), it may be said to have a placebo effect.

The placebo effect may be the result of the brain releasing "feel good" hormones such as endorphins in response to treatment. It may be part of the brain's attempt to heal the body. The placebo effect does not mean that a person's symptoms are imagined, but it does suggest that there is a strong connection between the mind and the body.

Active drugs and therapies can also have a placebo effect. It is sometimes difficult to know if the reason a particular drug is working is because of its active ingredient or because of the placebo effect.

One of the more dramatic examples of the placebo effect reported in medical literature involved a patient of Dr. Bruno Klopfer, a researcher who participated in testing the drug Krebiozen in 1950. Krebiozen had received sensational national publicity as a "cure" for cancer. These reports caught the eye of a man with advanced cancer - a lymphosarcoma. The patient, Mr. Wright, had huge tumor masses throughout his body and was in such desperate physical condition that he frequently had to take oxygen by mask and fluid had to be removed from his chest every two days. When the patient learned that Dr. Klopfer was involved in research on Krebiozen, he begged to be treated with it. Dr. Klopfer agreed, and the patient's recovery was startling - "The tumor masses had melted like snowballs on a hot stove, and in only a few days, they were half their original size!" The injections were continued until Mr. Wright was discharged from the hospital and had resumed a full, normal life, a complete reversal of his disease and its grim prognosis.

However, within two months of his recovery, a report that Krebiozen was not effective was leaked to the press. Learning of this report, Mr. Wright quickly began to revert to his former condition. Suspicious about the patient's relapse, his doctors decided to take advantage of the opportunity to test the dramatic regenerative capabilities of the mind. The patient was told that a new version of Krebiozen had been developed, that it overcame the difficulties described in the press, and that he would be given some of it as soon as it could be procured.

With much pomp and ceremony, which increased the patient's expectations to a fever pitch, a saline water placebo was injected. Recovery from this second nearly terminal state was even more dramatic than that from the first. Mr. Wright's tumor masses melted, his chest fluid vanished, and he became a picture of health. The saline water injections were continued, since they had worked wonders. He then remained symptom-free for over two months. At this time the final AMA announcement appeared in the press - "nationwide tests show Krebiozen to be a worthless drug in the treatment of cancer." Within a few days of this report, Mr. Wright was readmitted to the hospital in dire straits. His faith now gone, his last hope vanished, he died two days later.