The placebo effect is usually called the phenomenon of improving a person's well-being in the case when this person believes in the effectiveness of the positive effect of a certain drug or procedure on his body. Usually, the degree of manifestation of the placebo effect depends on the suggestibility of the person and various circumstances associated with the drug intake or procedure. A placebo is also called a substance without medicinal properties, which, however, has a positive effect on the well-being of a person who believes that this substance is a medicine.
Previously, it was believed that the placebo effect occurs only if the person does not know that the drug they are taking is a dummy, and not a real medicine. Now there is evidence that a placebo has a positive effect on a person's well-being, even if he knows about "forgery." The results of a medical study with this conclusion were recently published in the authoritative medical journal Pain.
"The results of the study provide insight into the effect of placebo," says study author Ted Kaptchuk. He works at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and teaches medicine at Harvard. "The new study shows that the placebo effect is not always caused by the patients' belief that they are taking an effective drug, as previously thought," Kapchuk said.
Taking a pacifier, which the patient knows is a pacifier, appears to stimulate the areas of the brain that are responsible for partial formation of the symptomatic picture of a disease.
The results of the work were obtained in the course of a major medical experiment involving 97 patients with chronic low back pain (lumbago). The main causes of lumbago are overstrain of the lumbar region, lumbar hernia, displacement of the vertebrae, or congenital anomalies of the vertebrae. Severe sudden lumbago that a person may experience while bending or lifting a weight is usually caused by a displacement of the intervertebral disc or significant tension in the muscles and ligaments of the back.
The volunteers were checked by doctors, confirming the earlier diagnosis. After that, the participants in the experiment were told about the placebo. The lecture took about 15 minutes. After that, the group was divided into two parts. The first received conventional treatment, and the second received similar treatment and placebo.
The overwhelming majority of volunteers, about 85%, have already taken various medications before participating in the project. In most cases, this medicine was anti-inflammatory drugs that did not contain steroids. Those patients who were treated with opioid drugs were not admitted to the experiment.
Both groups of subjects took new medications and tried to maintain the same lifestyle, including physical activity, rest, and medication used. Doses of drugs did not change, the drugs themselves also remained the same, the participants in the experiment were asked not to change them.
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Most interestingly, the participants in the "placebo group" received vials of the notorious placebo. They were warned about this immediately, plus the bottle itself was written "placebo pills." Also on the bottle it was indicated that the tablets consist of crystalline cellulose, which has practically no effect on the human body. The volunteers took these tablets twice a day.
The experiment lasted for three weeks. After that, the participants in the first and second groups were interviewed, asking the question of how people's well-being changed. 30% of the participants in the "placebo group" reported an improvement in their well-being. This applied to both the pain they experienced constantly and the maximum level of pain. In the group that took the real drug, 9% of participants reported a decrease in chronic pain, while 16% of participants reported a decrease in maximum pain.
“This is the effect of the very process of treatment: communication with a doctor or nurse, taking pills, daily rituals and symbols of our healthcare system. The body reacts to this,”says Kapchuk.
“We have proven that the placebo effect works without cheating,” says another member of the research group. “Patients are interested in what will happen next, and they begin to delve into their feelings. Their health improves."
According to the authors of the project, the placebo effect may work in cases of certain chronic diseases, depression and neuroses. But a placebo can never shrink, for example, in the size of a cancer or cure a disease of the cardiovascular system. “It's not a panacea, but most people feel better. Our research shows that placebos should not be underestimated. Perhaps a placebo is necessary for medicine,”Kapchuk said.
The authors of the project believe that without trust in your doctor or the health system in general, placebos will not work.
