Placebos work even if you know they are only placebos!


Now, THIS is more than a whole lot interesting! By interesting, I mean absolutely awesome!

A recent study published at PLoS One has shown that even when patients know they are being given placebos – and it is very clearly spelled out that the pills or medicine or processes being used have inert ingredients that have nothing to do with their presenting symptoms – the placebos still work!

See Placebos without Deception: A Randomized Control Trial in Irritable Bowell Syndrome at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0015591 for the breakdown and results of the study.

Essentially, researchers compared two groups of patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: those who were left without treatments, and those given a twice daily dose of placebo. Author Ted Kaptchuc says:

“Not only did we make it absolutely clear that these pills had no active ingredient and were made from inert substances, but we actually had ‘placebo’ printed on the bottle. We told the patients that they didn’t have to even believe in the placebo effect. Just take the pills.”

Despite this, the patients taking the sugar pills saw a significant improvement of their condition, with 59% reporting adequate symptom relief, compared to 35% with the control. On other recorded outcomes, the placebo patients had a rate of improvements equivalent to those seen with powerful medication for the disease.

The study is self-admittedly small, only 80 patients, and doesn’t compare people who knew they were taking a placebo to those who were unaware, but it will hopefully allow further research into this strange phenomenon.

This is a very big deal and has huge impact for those of us who work with placebo and suggestion in hypnosis.

If you’re in Taipei and interested in hypnosis, check the services page linked to in the top left sidebar. Not in Taipei? Check the store for recordings in the same menu area as well as links to lots and lots of info and goodies. Of course, browsing this site will bring you to a digital ton of positive resources on a wide variety of topics as well.

Brian
www.BrianDavidPhillips.net

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