Power of placebo

The world’s first professor of alternative medicine, Edzard Ernst, resigns his position after 18 years of meeting no one’s expectations. But that doesn’t mean he wasted time and resources. He and his research teams studied everything from herbal remedies to acupuncture to Reiki channeling. Many hoped he would give these practices credibility, but he found that very few of their claims could be substantiated.

What could be substantiated, was the power of placebo. This is something that Dr. Ernst thinks more mainstream doctors should embrace.

Alternative medicine is big business in every country, not just the UK where Dr. Ernst practices. Globally the business is probably worth $60 billion dollars. And it got that way because people believe the treatments work. Often times, it is simply that belief which triggers the placebo effect and helps the patient.

Basically, placebo is a sham. Pharmaceutical research usually includes a placebo group to compare against a dosed group. That’s the only way to know if the drug is really working.

The research team over the years has found that placebo effect is strongest for mental and neurological disorders, like depression and pain management. They found that giving patients placebo pills produced nearly the same results as the latest antidepressant meds.

Placebo power is increased when the delivery method is dramatic – needles and pseudo surgery are more productive than pills – and increased when the doctor is passionately committed to the treatment. Effects also increase when the doctor spends more time analyzing the problem and treating the patient with personal attention.

Is it all bad then? If you get the results and people feel better, maybe a little placebo science wouldn’t hurt.

Source: The Economist