3 ms·

This is just wrong on so many levels... That is absolutely not the "point" of modern homeopathy... The point of modern homeopathy is to spread a lot of nonsens

by YmMot 15y ago

This is just wrong on so many levels... That is absolutely not the "point" of modern homeopathy... The point of modern homeopathy is to spread a lot of nonsense about water with memory and other such bunk. Secondly, you seem to have some funny ideas about the placebo effect. Placebos are used to try and measure peripheral factors. It could be that just going outside is what is curing the patient, and not the new drug you are giving them.... Or maybe spraying anything up the nose will help some symptoms, not the new nose spray you are testing. That's the whole point of a placebo...if your medicine is only working as well as the placebo, it's not working at all. It so happens that additionally, sometimes you can get what is called "the placebo effect" where just the idea of being treated can help somewhat...but generally only in certain cases and for subjective things, like pain. It makes sense that people feel a little better subjectively when they are treated. However, not all placebos cause the placebo effect and if a placebo helps it is not necessarily because of the placebo effect. Using placebos in the way you suggest is not good medicine, they are not reliable enough and require some dishonesty with the patient, a serious ethical concern. Furthermore, you should be able to get similar or better results from a variety of real treatments! Outside of research, there may be occasionally a reason for a doctor to dispense a placebo...but overall they are not good medicine and neither is homeopathy. > Yeah, it has no medicinal effect. But that does not make it worthless, Actually, yes...that's exactly what it does. That's the whole point. If something only works as well as a placebo, it's literally worthless.

Derbasti 15y ago
Sorry, you are wrong. Placebo is astonishingly powerful. Read up about it. Clinical trials usually test three cases: No medication, placebo and actual medication. Placebo usually works really well compared to no treatment. Not for a broken bone, of course, but for a huge range of illnesses, including cancer. Of course it is especially potent for illnesses with a psychosomatic angle, which is just about anything except flesh wounds. A healthy, optimistic mindset is tremendously efficient medicine. Feeling like you are being helped is, therefore, very important. Don't get me wrong: I am not proposing to actively try to cure stuff using placebo. But judicious use of placebo, particularly in cases where tradinional medication has been proven to be ineffective or has too many unwanted side effects, is a valid course of action, if done professionally.
- YmMot 15y ago
  I think perhaps you are the one who needs to read up about it more. > Placebo is astonishingly powerful I would agree that placebo is "powerful", in that it can provide surprisingly powerful subjective effects...however it's mechanism is fairly well understood and it's nothing special. Placebo is not an effective treatment overall, and the places where it is effective are things like say pain... in those cases it works by releasing endogenous pain relievers. Ditto for things like relaxation etc... > Placebo usually works really well compared to no treatment Well of course it works "really well" compared to no treatment... Positive thinking, receiving attention from people around you, etc are all things that can have a positive impact on your health but these are not part and parcel with "the placebo effect". Even so, I find the claim that "placebo works really well" dubious, and I'd ask you to provide a basis for support if you wish to make it again. The fact is in the end, the placebo effect is small, unreliable, requires you to lie to your patient....and you could achieve as good or better results with real medicine. It's just not a good practice...placebos belong in research as a control, and very rarely in certain situations yes it can be useful to dispense them...but not in an effort to "treat" people with the placebo effect.

by YmMot 15y ago

Derbasti 15y ago

Sorry, you are wrong. Placebo is astonishingly powerful. Read up about it. Clinical trials usually test three cases: No medication, placebo and actual medication. Placebo usually works really well compared to no treatment. Not for a broken bone, of course, but for a huge range of illnesses, including cancer. Of course it is especially potent for illnesses with a psychosomatic angle, which is just about anything except flesh wounds. A healthy, optimistic mindset is tremendously efficient medicine. Feeling like you are being helped is, therefore, very important. Don't get me wrong: I am not proposing to actively try to cure stuff using placebo. But judicious use of placebo, particularly in cases where tradinional medication has been proven to be ineffective or has too many unwanted side effects, is a valid course of action, if done professionally.

YmMot 15y ago
I think perhaps you are the one who needs to read up about it more. > Placebo is astonishingly powerful I would agree that placebo is "powerful", in that it can provide surprisingly powerful subjective effects...however it's mechanism is fairly well understood and it's nothing special. Placebo is not an effective treatment overall, and the places where it is effective are things like say pain... in those cases it works by releasing endogenous pain relievers. Ditto for things like relaxation etc... > Placebo usually works really well compared to no treatment Well of course it works "really well" compared to no treatment... Positive thinking, receiving attention from people around you, etc are all things that can have a positive impact on your health but these are not part and parcel with "the placebo effect". Even so, I find the claim that "placebo works really well" dubious, and I'd ask you to provide a basis for support if you wish to make it again. The fact is in the end, the placebo effect is small, unreliable, requires you to lie to your patient....and you could achieve as good or better results with real medicine. It's just not a good practice...placebos belong in research as a control, and very rarely in certain situations yes it can be useful to dispense them...but not in an effort to "treat" people with the placebo effect.