BIOLOGY IN THE 21​ST​ CENTURY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018

The Placebo Effect: The Power of Belief

have ever known has assured me that he effects of chemotherapy.” (Resnik)
used more bread pills, drops of colored Placebo effect research has
water, powders of hickory ashes than of uncovered other interesting and important
all other medicines put together,” information for the medical world.
(Resnick) Researchers have discovered that the
Sometimes, even modern doctors “ritual” of receiving a placebo impacts its
don’t have a real cure for some conditions. effect on the patient. The ritual ranges
Irritable bowel syndrome and chronic from the mood of the doctor, to the color
itching are both very difficult conditions of the pill the patient is taking. Michael
to treat, and doctors are left with no option Stevens points out, “...injections often
other than prescribing inert pills. In their have a much greater effect on the subject,
educational podcast ​Stuff You Should just because they seem to be more
Know​ Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant important.” (Stevens) Not only is this
discuss the ethics of prescribing placebos noteworthy for placebo study, but also for
by Oliver Wheatley
to patients with psychosomatic conditions. general medicine, as real treatments can
Researchers at McGill University
Chuck says, “Doctors don’t have a fix for follow similar trends as placebo studies.
have recently been undertaking a study on
their problem. As is the case for those It is important for physicians to
how the power of one’s own mind can aid
with chronic itching. But when they take consider the power of positivity when
recovery from ailments such as chronic
this sugar pill, it helps them stop treating patients. This is especially visible
migraines or Impulse-control disorder.
scratching themselves till they draw when prescribing placebo pills. Research
PhD candidate Jay Olson and Dr. Samuel
blood. I don’t see how that it’s own, new, shows that doctors who show more
Paul Louis Veissiere found success in
strange sort of medicine. The sugar pills concern for the patient, and who express
helping three young teens with only a fake
are helping them.” (Bryant) more empathy for their condition, make
MRI and the power of suggestion. These
In research, placebos are most placebo pills more effective. However,
children went into the sham machine with
often used to test new drugs in trials, in those who seem to be apathetic or even
the belief that doing so would aid them in
order to determine the efficacy of a new pessimistic about a patient’s recovery can
their struggles, and it subsequently
drug. In these “double-blind” studies, make placebo treatment less effective.
impacted each of their conditions in a
neither the doctors nor the patients know (Bryant) On the opposite side of the same
measurably positive way.
which is the drug being tested, and which coin, placebo’s ugly sister, nocebo, can
Following his sessions with the
is an inert sugar pill. After the dosage, make patients feel worse if doctors aren’t
magnet-less machine, twelve-year-old
patients report the effects they’ve felt and careful about how they describe the
Nicholas’ debilitating daily migraines
if the actual drug is more beneficial, it is negative side effects of drugs.
screeched to a halt. This success was
achieved without any medication or real
deemed worthy of being prescribed. Trials Placebo research is still in its
such as these are useful for testing new early years. As we are understanding
scientific equipment at all. In fact, when
drugs, but others are interested in the how the placebo effect works we are
Nicholas’ mother was interviewed in the
placebo effect itself.
weeks after the fake procedure, she said, learning how it can assist those who
In the past decade, scientists have
“The neurologist thought it was quite
discovered a link between endorphin
can’t be helped with more traditional
remarkable...[Nicholas] hasn’t needed any medicine. The more we uncover
release in the brain and the placebo effect.
rescue medication, he hasn’t needed the about the placebo effect the more
“Drugs that negate the effects of
preventer, and he’s not having migraines.”
opioids—such as naloxone—also apparent it is that a patient’s faith in
(Stevens)
This instance isn’t isolated,
counteract the placebo effect, which their treatment has a real impact on
shows that placebos are indeed playing on how they recover. As the faith of a
however. Many have found relief in
the brain’s natural pain management patient is evidently derived from the
non-active drugs and even fake surgeries,
circuitry.” (Resnick) Prevailing thought is
all through the power of a phenomenon “ritual” surrounding a treatment,
that because a patient believes a placebo
known as the placebo effect. The placebo
pill should work a certain way—or
future doctors will hopefully give
effect is described as a positive effect, not value not only to the drug they are
because they are “conditioned” that it
attributed to the composition of the prescribing, but how they interact with
should—the body releases chemicals that
placebo drug administered, but rather
act how the prescription normally would. their patients.
credited to the patient’s belief in that Oliver studies at the University of Utah
Therein lies the miracle as well as the
treatment. Only recently understood, this campus in Salt Lake City. Whether biking or
limitation of these placebo pills. “Placebo
effect helped doctors in antiquity treat skateboarding, you can usually find him
can only help symptoms that can be rushing to class or to his job at a local
those with conditions untreatable by older
modulated by the mind. You can’t, for pizzeria, “The Pie”.
medicine. Thomas Jefferson remarks,
example, condition the cancer-killing
"One of the most successful physicians I