Skepticism
The Placebo Effect
I’ve just finished listening to Dr. Ben Goldacre’s 2 part series on The Placebo Effect that originally aired on BBC Radio 4. (Part I, Part II) You can subscribe to Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science podcast through iTunes as well.
There are 2 things that I enjoyed about these episodes and it was not that many alternative medicines get their curative effects primarily due to the Placebo Effect. This is a well established fact, with reams of evidence to support (see below for additional citations).
It is that many of our “traditional” medicines (particularly painkillers and anti-depressants) also get a significant boost from the Placebo Effect. In fact, many anti-depressants have nearly the same effect as a placebo for those with mild depression.
The other thing is that it is often the context in which the placebo is given that informs how pronounced it’s effect will be. Simply being administered “sham” acupuncture with no interaction between the acupuncturist and the patient produces a greater response than nothing but performing “sham” acupuncture with an optimal “doctor-patient” interaction has a profound effect on the efficacy of the “sham” acupuncture.
If you’ve got the time (each episode is about 30 minutes long) they are well worth the listen. For further reading I would suggest the following articles:
- The Placebo Effect by Dr. Steven Novella on Science-based Medicine blog
- placebo effect on The Skeptic’s Dictionary
- Why “placebo” is not a dirty word by Robert Burton on Salon.com
- The Mysterious Placebo by John E. Dodes originally published by Skeptical Inquirer
Disclaimer: The views expressed by an individual contributor to this blog are not necessarily shared by all members of FreeThought Fort Wayne. That is what makes this organization so interesting. Commenters on the FreeThought Fort Wayne blog are expected to abide by our comment policy. About the author: Skeptigator is a mystery wrapped in an enigma and served on a bed of lettuce. Read more from this author
The The Placebo Effect by Skeptigator, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: ben goldacre, john e. dodes, placebo effect, robert burton, sham acupuncture, skeptic, skeptical inquirer, steven novella Discussion
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Penn and Teller just did an episode of Bullshit, about New Age Medicine… of course the satire of the whole things was brilliant.