Understanding The Placebo Effect

What is a Placebo Effect? When is the placebo effect used, why is the placebo effect used? Who dose the placebo effect work on? Is the placebo effect only for sick people? Is the placebo effect a drug, a trick, or a cure? Is the placebo effect used often or regularly? Dose the placebo effect work? Is the placebo effect useful? All of these questions will be addressed regarding placebo effect, from what is the placebo effect, why the placebo effect is used, who the placebo effect will work on, when the placebo effect is used, as well as the effect the placebo effect has on the body and on the mind, as well as the method of the placebo effect that would be used if necessary. Just like any from or kind of treatment the placebo effect has its limitation. The placebo effect will not always work, and the placebo will not work on everyone.

Should pharmaceuticals be the first option that is prescribed to patients who are sick or are thinking about losing weight, even if the outcome is negative? In today’s society, people are so unbelievably reliant and dependent on pharmaceuticals, we are so wrapped up in the fact that they need to fix every little thing that is wrong with themselves. Society has forced upon people that the only way for someone to be healthy and “cured” is to take drugs, but that is not necessarily the right answer. Even in historic literature such as Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth began to sleepwalk and her husband believed that the only way she would be “cured” was if the doctor prescribed her medication to take, but that was not the resolution. In some situations, this might be correct. While in others, such as dieting or headaches, drugs might not be the answer. Prescription drugs can help people while at the same time harming them, but what is more prominent: the consequence or the affirmative development into something more.

The study subjects were gathered from various ICU centers at various institutions, which is appropriate for study given the study objective and what the study was aiming to examine and determine (using a study drug vs. placebo in an ICU environment). Inclusion criteria were appropriate to assess the effects of the anti-pyretic acetaminophen due to their specificity of including those patients who were febrile with an infection that had been initiated with antimicrobial therapy. The exclusion criteria was extensive and included patient characteristics and disease states that may have skewed the true effect of acetaminophen. It was appropriate to limit these patients with the exclusion criteria from receiving treatment since their comorbidities

Medical treatments happen around the world in many different countries. This can be for illnesses such as cancer or influenza. There are other medical treatments, too. A placebo is a medical treatment that is ineffective. It is ineffective because the treatment that they’re given is completely false. Those personnel that prescribe drugs (doctors, psychiatrists, etc.) give placebo medical treatments to those whose

The placebo effect is a widely known phenomenon where patients are given some form of dummy medication in place of actual medication that produces the same effect as the real medication would have. They intend to help stimulate areas of the brain that may prompt the release of chemicals such as endorphins to aid in the relief of the symptom. Tests have shown that forms such as injections psychologically perform better than pills, because of the slight pain that injections bring ( Freeman, Shanna. "How the Placebo Effect Works." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 13 Jan. 2009. Web.). Because of the pain, people tend to believe that the medication would work better. Placebos can be used to treat multiple different diseases, but has been

The use of placebos in research is a controversial topic. Critics argue that the use of placebos is unethical due to the possibility of patients not receiving the highest known method of care or perhaps any treatment at all (Temple & Ellenberg, 2000). This is unfortunate, as placebos play a vital role in determining the efficacy of new drugs as well as in the treatment of many disorders (Stang et al., 2005). By discussing the theories behind how placebos work and demonstrating that placebos can be implemented ethically, the aim of this paper is to illustrate that placebos are an integral part of research.

“The power of placebos has been recognised for improving numerous medical conditions”(Fernandez 2001). However, there is still much speculation as to how the underlying mechanisms of an inert substance manage to instantiate that improvement. To better understand the role of placebos in treatment, a 2001 study of the placebo effect on Parkinson’s disease was conducted.

Is the Placebo Effect harming society or is it giving us new ways to live? The definition of a placebo is “a substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine,” (2014). The definition of the Placebo Effect is “a reaction to a placebo manifested by a lessening of symptoms or the production of anticipated side effects,” (2014). Various placebos can have different positive or negative effects on everyone. Society has been influenced for many years and every person has been affected in some way. Adults are impacted greatly by society and pressure, while children are being impacted by their parents and schooling. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is the main cause of children receiving low grades. Prescription medication has been said to help with this disorder. A myriad of studies and research have been conducted on the Placebo Effect and new discoveries are made every day.

Henry Beecher (1904–1976) was a physician who treated wounded soldiers in America during World War II. When he ran out of pain-killing morphine, he decided not to tell the wounded soldiers. Instead he kept telling them that he was giving them morphine, while he was actually giving a saline. Surprisingly, almost 40 percent of the wouded soldiers that were given the saline said their pain was actually reduced by the treatment. Breecher had discovered what is called the placebo effect. (Beecher, 1955)

In this article, Erik Vance (2016) describes the placebo effect and its impact in the medical field. A placebo is an inert substance that seems to provide relief because people simply hope or think that it will. Because there doesn’t need to be any scientific proof for a placebo to be effective, Doctors oftentimes take advantage of patients and their families with the placebo effect. They do this by using a mixture of “medicine” and psychological cues. These cues can be as simple as a smile, or a pat on the shoulder. This mixture causes the patient to believe they are improving solely based on their thoughts. In instances where children are the subject, it is easier to implement the placebo effect since children often act how they feel their

In this essay I will begin by explaining the five major points of the placebo effect, such as the understanding of placebo, the history, phenomenon, experiments and case studies. Placebos are used in everyday life, from it being your doctor or even a commercial you've seen on the tv. Do we really need prescribed medication or do we just think we do?

There has been knowledge of a placebo trail that dates back to 1784, the first trial was under the direction of Benjamin Franklin. Also, it has been said that during the Second World War, Henry Beecher a medic met with two hundred seriously injured soldiers, still able to talk. Beecher offered each soldier morphine and they refused, because they were simply happy to be alive. Afterwards Beecher remembered that before the war he experienced patients with similar injuries that begged for morphine and healthy soldiers complained about minor pain. He concluded that the difference had to do with emotions and expectations of the soldiers as to how they would heal. I believe the placebo effect produces positive results ultimately based on the patient’s individual beliefs, emotions and expectations during the time of their illness. Furthermore, positive thinking is a mental attitude that is usually referred to as optimism. It has been suggested that optimism could appear to be a hereditary trait because it is actually a manifestation of combined traits that are

Placebo should be administered. It’s been proven that the positive thinkers normally respond to it quite well. Many of us have had the “oh, it’s all in my head” ailment, but you just can’t seem to beat it. That’s where placebo comes in to assist. Since it’s an inert substance, one shouldn’t experience any of those unpleasant side effects unless they expect them. Those not all for placebo would go with the fact that not everyone can’t have the right mindset, but that’s only if the patient were to be completely negative about their treatment. If the patient was thinking that nothing could cure them, then no medication will do its job thoroughly and correctly. During the diagnosis, if it’s a single blind study, (only the doctor knows about the placebo) the doctor would call the placebo a regular drug used to treat the ailment and reassure the patient of its effectiveness. Confirmed by Dr. Walter A. Brown, placebos are efficient in treating mental disorders like anxiety and

Researches on placebo effect in the 1970s showed that placebo analgesia is initiated by production of endogenous opioids (Benedetti, 2009)

The mind has often been referred to as the organ of consciousness. Daily functions such as thinking, breathing, and most any task we do rely heavily on use of this precious organ. However, through the use of placebos, it is becoming clear that the mind may have an even greater influence on our daily lives, influencing our perceptions of well- being. The placebo, which is Latin for to please, is a sugar-pill that is given under the guise of being a medication thought to treat an ailment. The use of placebos has shown us that the mind has tremendous potential to induce physiological changes in our body based solely on its perceptions. In example, as we swallow a sugar pill thinking