A novel study from Switzerland used dummy pills to help people overcome bad guilt.
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Articles on Placebo
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Our study also examined the way media coverage may affect a patient’s expectations of cannabis in treating pain.
Two political scientists in their study in South Dakota found people trusted medical professionals the least when it came to public health messages.
Drug manufacturers often shun the use of placebos in clinical trials. But research suggests that placebos could play an important role in the treatment of depression, pain and other maladies.
The mind is a powerful thing – it can generate both symptoms of illness and symptoms of healing. Here’s what this could tell us about consciousness.
A whistle-stop tour of the history of placebos.
Researchers rarely report what’s in a placebo.
Drugs and vaccines to fight the coronavirus are already in clinical trials. It is important to understand the difference between each step in this process as efforts to fight COVID-19 continue.
The only way to know if a medical treatment actually works is with a randomized-controlled trial.
Placebos come in different shapes, colours that can all have different effects.
Clinical trials are used to establish that medicines work. But these don’t take into account the genetic differences between us that can mean very different outcomes for different patients.
Economist, author and MP Andrew Leigh spoke to Fiona Fidler about how we should be using randomised trials more to drive decisions and policy in public life.
In many trials, patients have been told they’re getting the sugar pill. They still got better.
They’re often no more effective than placebo, but that shouldn’t necessarily stop us using them.
There’s often limited evidence for many common types of surgery. Understanding what makes good evidence is the key to deciding what’s best for you.
A placebo is an important tool for finding out if a treatment works or not. A dummy pill is one thing, but is it right to perform placebo surgery on someone?
Doctors break no law in using a placebo, but may cross an ethical boundary in choosing not deceive a patient, or to facilitate a patient’s self-deception.
Packaging and pricing have their own healing properties says an expert on the psychology of advertising.
Melancholia has a strong genetic contribution, so it’s largely biologically underpinned rather than caused by social factors (stressors) or psychological factors, such as personality style.
Whether an athlete has endured the repeated joint stresses of a marathon run, or the relentless battery of hits during a football match, many will opt for a post-activity polar plunge into an ice-cold…
Top contributors
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Professor and Director of the Stoneygate Centre for Excellence in Empathic Healthcare, University of Leicester
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Conjoint Clinical Associate Professor, Deakin University School of Medicine and Specialist Pain Medicine Physician, Deakin University
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Professor of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology, Flinders University
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Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Foundation Chair in Physiotherapy, University of South Australia
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Honorary Associate, Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing, La Trobe University
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Professor; NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, La Trobe University
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Professor, School of Biosciences & School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
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Associate professor, Monash University
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Doctoral Candidate School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, The University of Melbourne
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Clinical Hypnotherapist and PhD student, Monash University
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Adjunct Research Fellow in Bioethics, Monash University
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Research Fellow, Flinders University
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Head, Colorectal Unit, Prince of Wales Private Hospital; Conjoint Associate Professor of Surgery, UNSW Sydney
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Lecturer in Physiotherapy, Brunel University London
