Re:Are Placebos Really Sugar Pills?
by dalke on Wednesday January 30, 2013 @03:15PM
(#5141520)
Not all side effects are equally negative. Some negative side effects are acceptable and ethical.
Let's take DMSO as an example. Treatments with DMSO leave a particular garlic-like taste in the mouth. This is a negative side-effect. But DMSO is not a poison during normal treatments any more than ethyl alcohol is a poison.
A good placebo for DMSO would have the same side-effects as otherwise a patient and perhaps even the doctor could tell the difference based on taste/smell compared to the anticipated taste/smell. I believe this still isn't possible, which makes testing DMSO difficult. One solution, for example, is to look for a dose-response curve, which is a more complicated signal to extract.
Let's take DMSO as an example. Treatments with DMSO leave a particular garlic-like taste in the mouth. This is a negative side-effect. But DMSO is not a poison during normal treatments any more than ethyl alcohol is a poison.
A good placebo for DMSO would have the same side-effects as otherwise a patient and perhaps even the doctor could tell the difference based on taste/smell compared to the anticipated taste/smell. I believe this still isn't possible, which makes testing DMSO difficult. One solution, for example, is to look for a dose-response curve, which is a more complicated signal to extract.