How do placebos work at times?!


Question: How do placebos work at times?
Since they don't really work why do some people think they work until they find out it is a placebo? The main placebo I know of is homeopathic 'medicine'. Why do people buy this crap considering it doesn't do anything?

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Because although it is undoubtedly total nonsense and mumbo-jumbo, the palcebo effect is powerful and can induce measurable, physiological changes
http://www.badscience.net/2008/03/all-bo…

Also for believers - any improvement is because the 'cure' is working, and deterioration is because it hasn't worked yet but it will - 'it can take time'

If anyone ever needs to know the process of homeopathy, this is a good link to post
http://www.1023.org.uk/what-is-homeopath…



Hi there and welcome to the fun world of Alternative medicine.

1st thing you need to do is ignore thenosek. (thenoseknows)

She used to go by the user name Old Cat Lady and is a ferocious supporter of homeopathy. If you name any condition or illness she will say that homeopathy can cure it. She won't hesitate. According to her homeopathy can cure EVERYTHING

Homeopathy is lengthy to explain but I'll give you the short version. Through a magic process and spiritualistic vibrations a drop of water with absolutely nothing else in it is added to a glucose pill. All homeopathic medicines are identical and none of them have any effect beyond placebo. Her saying that studies have shown Homeopathy to work is false. No large placebo controlled, blinded trials have shown a greater than placebo effect.

email me for links and details if you need more

As far as the placebo effect: What JLI is saying may be true but for me I start by saying that the placebo effect only works on reported symptoms. So basically it can make someone say they feel less pain but it won't heal your arm quicker.

booked a ticket for QEDCON Manchester!! woohoo.



The notion that Homeopathic medicines are placebos is total crap and unsupported by any evidence. It's an opinion, not a fact.
You should realize that 80 per cent of conventional drugs "work" according to a placebo effect. You should really get your facts straight and do more homework before making these kinds of statements.
A placebo effect, meaning that an individual experiences improvement because they think that a substance will have that impact is found in every form of medicine. Trying to point fingers at homeopathy is juvenile.



The placebo effect has some physiological effect in some instances. For instance it has been demonstrated that the pain relief induced by the placebo effect is associated with the body's endogenous opioid system: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11207…

Another contributing factor is, that most conditions waxes and wanes over time. If people receive the placebo treatment around the time where the symptoms are worse, and are told that it will take a few weeks or so for the effect to show, they will be inclined to believe that it is the placebo treatment that did the trick, and not the natural history of the condition.

EDIT:
What Angelhil says is absolutely true. The relief of pain attributable to placebo does in no way treat the underlying cause of the pain.

A recommendable book that gives a good overview of science related to the placebo effect: http://www.amazon.com/Snake-Oil-Science-…




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