3 ms·
People much smarter than me have been wrong about the placebo effect in the past, but I think it's pretty unlikely that a placebo effect will result in the rest
by JshWright 10y ago
People much smarter than me have been wrong about the placebo effect in the past, but I think it's pretty unlikely that a placebo effect will result in the restoration of function after a traumatic spinal cord injury...
This procedure clearly needs to be tested against "doing nothing" (but it's impossible to blind against that, obviously). You only need to blind a study when you are testing against a placebo.
- lisper 10y ago> I think it's pretty unlikely that a placebo effect will result in the restoration of function after a traumatic spinal cord injury... You would be amazed. The placebo effect is surprisingly powerful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sham_surgery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sham_surgery
- JshWright 10y agoYeah, I'm familiar with the effect (I linked to a Healthcare Triage video on that topic in another leaf). I still think the placebo effect is likely to be very small when it comes to the restoration of movement (as opposed to reduction in pain, or other symptoms).
- lisper 10y agoYes, but the only way to know for sure is to do the experiment. Wouldn't it be cool if you turned out to be wrong?