I'd like to know more about placebos - could anyone help?

[Katymac]

How do they work?

Is it by not knowing what you are taking is a placebo?

If you know will that reduce/negate the effect?

Can someone say "This is a placebo, but it will make you feel better" & it works?

I always thought it was like giving a child a sweetie saying "This will make you feel better" & the childs trust in you relaxing & calming them

Is there some (reasonably accessible) research I can read?

(sorry but I'm off out for a bit - but I will come back I promise) TIA

Placebos don't work if you know that's what they are.

A placebo is something you take either thinking its the real thing, or not knowing if it's the real thing or not (eg in a test environment).

Giving sweets to kids is more about taking their mind off tbings IMO.

Placebos can still work (especially anti-depressants) even if you know it's a placebo. Even if the DR tells you it's a placebo.

Eg if they say this is a placebo which has helped lots of my patients.

Nocebo is the opposite effect. When a drug does not help because the patient has decided it won't help.

You can know it's a placebo, and it'll still work, so long as you believe it'll work.

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/200906/placebos-do-work-lets-consider-why

Have a look at Ben Goldacre's Bad Science - there's a section on placebo and explanations of why most "alternative medicine" is basically placebo.

Placebo includes various things that lead to feeling better, eg talking to someone for an hour and sounding like you are taking them seriously has a huge placebo effect.

Belief has a large effect on effectiveness - there's research showing that small white sugar pills are more effective than large ones, while green sugar pills have more effect on indigestion than other coloured ones - the subconscious is very strange!

www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-05-20/#feature

The nocebo effect is worse than the drug not working, the nocebo effect is the drug being more likely to cause unpleasant side effects if the patient is informed of unpleasant side effects the drug might cause. Reading the patient information leaflet isn't always a good thing!

Ben Goldacre also did a couple of programmes for Radio 4 on the placebo effect here:

www.badscience.net/2008/08/my-placebo-programme-on-bbc-radio-4/

Thanks - I'll read & listen

OK this is fascinating - especially the actual brain (& body) response to placebo

I think it negates my argument for wanting more treatment but supports the level of treatment that I'm getting so at least I have an argument for it not being stopped

Off to listen to episode 2

Ah now that 'seemed' to say that me knowing that it could be a placebo probably won't affect the efficiency of it working and that if I beleive more would help then (in my mind) I should have more

can't see the GP falling for it tho'