A placebo can trigger pain relief and other benefits even when patients are told the pills they are taking lack therapeutically active ingredients
, if a patient merely believed they might have received the active drug, the brain might release chemicals, including endorphins known to reduce pain and improve mood in ways that initiate healing. Some criticsthe effect is real, attributing any improvements in the placebo group to fluctuating symptoms, the erratic nature of diseases, or even the desire of study subjects to be accommodating.
Kaptchuk and his colleagues included 80 people with irritable bowel syndrome in a randomized clinical trial; half took two placebo capsules twice each day and the others had no treatment. Researchers were careful to explain to the placebo group that the capsules contained no medication. They also told them that clinical trials have shown placebos may induce self-healing processes.
The fact that it’s prescribed by a physician is also key, experts say. “A placebo isn’t about the pill. It’s the ritual of the pill,” Kaptchuk says. Additionally, Kaptchuk and Anthony Lembo, director of the GI motility and functional bowel disorders program at Beth Israel, point to further prospects based on their newest IBS study. As they published inin April, they enrolled 262 IBS patients—up from 80 in the 2010 study. This time they also added a third group: people who were given a traditional placebo. This group was told they were either getting a placebo or peppermint oil, which some studies have shown can aid IBS.
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