What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick?

Re:What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick? by IX-103 on Wednesday November 07, 2018 @12:33PM (#18400659)

And yet placebos do not seem to significantly affect objective measures (they do not improve respiratory volume in asthma for instance). Placebos only seem to work when the mind is also in the measurement loop. That's why we wonder if the patient is actually better or we just think they are.

There is some limited evidence that placebos have some actual effect on reducing pain, but it's hard to separate the effects for many conditions.

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Re:What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick? by WA on Wednesday November 07, 2018 @12:56PM (#18400819)

This is what I always wondered. Most placebo studies work with pain/chronic pain. But can you somehow use the Placebo effect to reduce the duration of the flu? Or other infections? Does a good patient-doctor relationship (article says that this is an important factor in Placebos) promote faster recovery when a virus is involved?

Edit: Although even here, you often need to trust the answer of a patient about their well-being and can’t necessarily pinpoint the duration of the flu to measurable symptoms only.

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