3 ms·

This is perfectly logical, assuming the patients were aware of the placebo effect. I wonder what the results would be if some patients were given real medicati

by mansr 16y ago

This is perfectly logical, assuming the patients were aware of the placebo effect. I wonder what the results would be if some patients were given real medication while being told it was placebo.

hugh3 16y ago
No, it's surprising. I was under the impression that a placebo worked only if you didn't know it was a placebo. If you feed me a placebo while telling me it's a placebo then I would be under the impression that it would be non-effective, thus we wouldn't expect to get any placebo effect since I wasn't expecting it to work. Having read this headline, though, I now have the opposite expectation: that placebos work even when you know they're placebos. This, for me, is excellent news, since I can now start taking placebos every time I feel sick and thus get better due to the placebo effect due to the fact that I now expect placebos to work and hence will now get a significant placebo effect from placebos! The best part is that this works even if this study is bullshit.
- chrisaycock 16y ago
  I can now start taking placebos every time I feel sick and thus get better due to the placebo effect due to the fact that I now expect placebos to work and hence will now get a significant placebo effect from placebos! I wonder if this is related to the Hawthorne effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
- mansr 16y ago
  Your second paragraph describes the situation I expected at least some of the test subjects to be in.
- andylei 16y ago
  Maybe not. From the article: >> "My personal hypothesis is this would not happen without a positive doctor-patient relationship," Kaptchuk said. >> Others agreed. >> "What seems to be the active ingredient is the warm, personal relationship," said Dr. Howard Brody of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
  - gwern 16y ago
    Those quotes excellently work with the theory of health care & placebos in http://hanson.gmu.edu/showcare.pdf http://hanson.gmu.edu/showcare.pdf
  - jerf 16y ago
    I don't know about you, but I have an excellent doctor-patient relationship with myself and I fully expect that if I prescribe myself placebos it would work just fine.

by mansr 16y ago

This is perfectly logical, assuming the patients were aware of the placebo effect. I wonder what the results would be if some patients were given real medication while being told it was placebo.

hugh3 16y ago

No, it's surprising. I was under the impression that a placebo worked only if you didn't know it was a placebo. If you feed me a placebo while telling me it's a placebo then I would be under the impression that it would be non-effective, thus we wouldn't expect to get any placebo effect since I wasn't expecting it to work. Having read this headline, though, I now have the opposite expectation: that placebos work even when you know they're placebos. This, for me, is excellent news, since I can now start taking placebos every time I feel sick and thus get better due to the placebo effect due to the fact that I now expect placebos to work and hence will now get a significant placebo effect from placebos! The best part is that this works even if this study is bullshit.

chrisaycock 16y ago
I can now start taking placebos every time I feel sick and thus get better due to the placebo effect due to the fact that I now expect placebos to work and hence will now get a significant placebo effect from placebos! I wonder if this is related to the Hawthorne effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
mansr 16y ago
Your second paragraph describes the situation I expected at least some of the test subjects to be in.
andylei 16y ago
Maybe not. From the article: >> "My personal hypothesis is this would not happen without a positive doctor-patient relationship," Kaptchuk said. >> Others agreed. >> "What seems to be the active ingredient is the warm, personal relationship," said Dr. Howard Brody of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
- gwern 16y ago
  Those quotes excellently work with the theory of health care & placebos in http://hanson.gmu.edu/showcare.pdf http://hanson.gmu.edu/showcare.pdf
- jerf 16y ago
  I don't know about you, but I have an excellent doctor-patient relationship with myself and I fully expect that if I prescribe myself placebos it would work just fine.