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Does placebo medicine really work?

Absolutely. The human mind is infinitely more powerful then the human body.
 
As much as the placebo has been shown to "work".
 
it's all a bunch of poo is what I think, but then again, when they look at the placebo effect, they notice things related to the mind. A sugar pill is not going to kill bacteria, or get rid of a virus. A sugar pill is not going to heal a broken bone any faster, only time will help a broken bone. Also, a sugar pill won't help physical symptoms of a serious problem

sugar pills won't get rid of tumors etc.
 
Your immune system can be significantly weakened by stress and sleep deprivation. Taking fake medicine can make a patient chill out enough to get a full nights sleep. That alone is capable of making a big impact on even serious physical conditions.
 
It is actually becoming too effective:

If you are interested in this discussion, Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.

I wonder how many "diseases" we've come up with which have pills as solutions that are merely psychosomatic. Things which just need talking out or thinking about, but not drugs. Real disease should not be so easily overcome with placebo. If placebo is becoming more effective, it just means that we are inventing new "diseases" which really aren't diseases as much as they are an excuse for the drug companies to sell you a pill.
 
Sometimes. I read a study recently indicating that anti-depressants have a fairly strong placebo effect, and this may account for their failure to remain effective after 6-12 months or so of taking them.
 
I wonder how many "diseases" we've come up with which have pills as solutions that are merely psychosomatic. Things which just need talking out or thinking about, but not drugs. Real disease should not be so easily overcome with placebo. If placebo is becoming more effective, it just means that we are inventing new "diseases" which really aren't diseases as much as they are an excuse for the drug companies to sell you a pill.

We live in a culture now that encourages slapping a bandaid on a problem and taking away the symptoms rather than fixing the cause or root of the problem.
 
We live in a culture now that encourages slapping a bandaid on a problem and taking away the symptoms rather than fixing the cause or root of the problem.

Because fixing is not as lucrative as treating.
 
Because fixing is not as lucrative as treating.

You probably have a point, but I think it's more that the individual with the "problem" wants a quick fix and doesn't really want to change anything about his lifestyle, his attitude, or his actions.
 
You probably have a point, but I think it's more that the individual with the "problem" wants a quick fix and doesn't really want to change anything about his lifestyle, his attitude, or his actions.

Yes exactly. Nobody is forcing people to the doctors office, it's their own choice. I think it's 50/50.
 
If the placebo effect weren't real, they wouldn't do double blind studies in the first place. I wish I could find the link of a paper that I read over a year ago, by three med students in Australia who did a study on symptom management versus curative rates. They found that even if patients were given medications meant to simply ease symptoms, that some would spontaneously recover from the root illness.

It had to do with the demeanor of the doctor writing the prescription. If the doctor was giving them the impression that the drug would significantly improve their situation, the patient was more likely to benefit. Stress is the number one killer in modern society. I think any therapeutic/healing experience that eases a patient's mind will be half the battle, even if the practitioner is misdiagnosing them or using the wrong treatment.

I think proper treatment combined with mental affirmation will go a long way towards cures.
 
There's still craptons of research needed in the field of mind-body interaction. I think the placebo effect is just a tantalizing hint of what is possible.
 
Yes placebos work, not pharmacologically but because what people believe is real is real in its consequences, drawing upon your body's natural abilities. Arch Enemy's article did a good job of explaining it.

It is actually becoming too effective:

If you are interested in this discussion, Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.

I am not sure why anybody is surprised that the placebo effect can vary by population as it certainly varies by individual with inputs beyond mere biology - cultural attitudes will affect how they view a medicine or medicines in general. One thing that did surprise me from the article was that Prozac was more effective in Europe than here. I would expect the placebo response to be more pronounced in America due to the fact that we're one of the only countries with direct-to-consumer ads. I guess the explanation could be the fact that Americans are bombarded with some variation of, "if your antidepressant isn't enough, try this new drug that we still have a patent for," lowering Americans' expectations regarding older antidepressants.

article linked by Arch Enemy said:
Today, to win FDA approval, a new medication must beat placebo in at least two authenticated trials.

Amazing there isn't more innovation from Pharma :roll:. Shouldn't they have to show improvement over existing rx?
 
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Where's the poll?
 
I had been thinking this while trying to go to sleep last night... saline injections and sugar pills do not help when a person is addicted to something! The person will still go through withdrawal and is going cold turkey.
 
I had been thinking this while trying to go to sleep last night... saline injections and sugar pills do not help when a person is addicted to something! The person will still go through withdrawal and is going cold turkey.

Their symptoms will be reduced compared to taking no placebo, but not to the same extent as they would be on, say, methadone.
 
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