"BBC" - Horizon 2014 The Power of the Placebo

Placebo or dummy pills

n. pl. pla·ce·bos or pla·ce·boes

1. A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well.

2. An inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug.

"BBC" - Horizon 2014 The Power of the Placebo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKG1lgI4zIk

They are the miracle pills that shouldn't really work at all. Placebos come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. Now they are being shown to help treat pain, depression and even alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Horizon explores why they work, and how we could all benefit from the hidden power of the placebo.

The latest research started to show why the placebo do work and how you can make the most of them. In an experiment, cyclists were given two types of pills thinking that they would have an effect on their performances. In fact, both pills were filled with corn flour. Surprisingly enough, half of the riders were quicker with the corn flour. Why that’s happening, is still an open question.

On the other hand, Dr David Kallmes noticed that there were some reasons to suspect that there were numerous factors at play in the apparent effectiveness of the cement he was using to treat back pain. So he decided to put its established procedure to the test. He designed a trial in which some patients will be given the real procedure and some will be given a placebo. But in this case the placebo couldn’t be a dummy pill. It would have to be a fake operation. They really simulated the procedure for the patient. Within a week of the injection one patient with a broken vertebra was able to play golf again. There was no statistically significant difference in degree of pain relief between the patients who underwent vertebroplasty or placebo. A pretend procedure can be as effective as a vertebroplasty.

Around the world, scientists are investigating how a placebo works, what’s happening inside your body and brain. It has all to do with a neurotransmitter called PGE2. It’s a real neurobiological effect. By scanning the brain of people who have experienced a placebo effect, it has revealed clues about how a placebo effect works. The placebo effect is tapping into the pain control circuitry to release the natural pain killers in our brain like morphins. And this is not just pain killers that placebo can activate. Our brain is capable of producing complex chemicals that we need. Placeboes work by tapping into our chemical systems, our natural pharmacy that our body has evolved. In the case of Parkinson’s disease, the placebo effect can release dopamine just like the real drug. But how much are our expectations capable of. Placebo can alleviate conditions from depression, insomnia, nausea, to attention deficit disorder.

And because, it’s all about your expectations, even the size and shape of a pill can make the difference to how well it works: capsules are more effective than tablets, large capsules are better than smaller ones, expensive medications are more effective than cheap medications, colors make the difference, red capsule is more effective to treating pain, blue capsule is more effective to treating anxiety. There are clear limits to what placebo can do, it won’t treat cancer but in the area where it is effective, scientist are wondering how to make the most of them.

But do we really need to be duped for the placebo to work?  A professor from Harvard put this hypothesis to the test and revealed that 62% of the patients report improvement from a pill they knew was inactive. Understanding this phenomena is the key to unlock our body potential to heal itself. The relationship between the doctor and the patient is also significant and has been reported to optimize the placebo effect.

It seems that kindness can make the difference!