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substitute for chemotherapy, surgery for a broken arm, or vaccination. While it’s true that placebos
may be a valuable adjunct to any
therapy — indeed, placebo effects
have been found to enhance the
effects of some medications — placebos are perhaps most compelling and promising for conditions
that currently have no successful
standard therapies, such as some
psychogenic disorders: “medically
unexplained” conditions characterized by debilitating pain, paralysis,
blindness, tremors, and seizures,
which make up 20-30 percent of
primary care patients at an estimated cost of $100 billion per year.
Placebos could provide a costeffective solution here, and many
of us are already comfortable with
and in the habit of using a variety
of placebos; local grocery stores and
health food stores contain many
shelves of non-FDA regulated solutions to a variety of ailments including the common cold.
But, if we are to move forward
with placebo treatment, we will
have to apply a systematic means
of implementing it. Because placebo treatment is so intensely
context-dependent — seemingly
unimportant factors like color, or
mode of delivery, or what is stated
DR. KAREN S.
ROMMELFANGER
HUFFINGTON
07.01-08.12
at the time of administration can
significantly bear on their efficacy
— many potentially influential factors must first be analyzed. Some
patients, more than others, may
be strongly susceptible to placebos
and it will be important to determine which sub-populations would
benefit or be harmed by such treatments. Therefore, the first step will
require standardizing placebo treatments for specific patients by collecting in-depth data
on how and for whom
physicians are using
Placebos
placebos now.
are widely
It’s a step we
used and
should take. Placebos
prescribed,
are widely used and
and have
prescribed today, and
significant
have significant benbenefits to
efits to those seeking
those seeking
treatment. We must
treatment.”
move beyond asking
whether we approve
of placebo use and instead reinvigorate research on how and under what conditions we should use
them. This research will not only
have an impact on a host of medically unexplained illnesses, but
could also make headway in addressing a wider range of illnesses
such as the common
cold and pain.