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A fascinating new article in knowable magazine https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2017/rebranding-placebos
Indicates that a group of savvy scientists are looking at the potential for placebo as a front line therapy for a host of illnesses and conditions.
The article is rather long, but to summarize, placebo and its related effects are powerful. So powerful in fact that most medical therapies are only slightly more effective, while running the risk of serious side effects. Therefore the scientists pose the questions. Why not use placebo as a front line therapy, a first line of defense in most cases?
But for this to work, placebo would need a rebrand.
The problem with the placebo effect is that it stops working once a person knows that they are receiving the placebo.
So here is a thought. What if instead of using the word "placebo", we make it ok for doctors to write initial prescriptions for monosaccharide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosaccharide and Dihydrogen Monoxide DHMO therapy https://www.lockhaven.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm and / or other fancy chemical names for the ingredients actually in these placebos. Then a simple updating of wikipedia pages showing their efficacy in treatment of various ailments along with their relative safety. In otherwords, since we are a society that places our faith in chemicals, why not just give the chemicals in the placebos their due and forget the word "placebo" all together?
(Score: 1) by r_a_trip on Wednesday February 27 2019, @08:37PM (4 children)
So mentioning the chemical names of the fillers in the pill is enough to make people believe they are getting treatment? Is the world's population really stupid enough to be unable to search for stearin, sucrose or magnesium oxide? And find out they are getting zip for medicine?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @08:55PM
No need to google. When placebo is the first in line and everyone knows that, then placebo stops working.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday February 27 2019, @08:55PM
As George Carlin so wonderfully pointed out back when he was alive: "Think about how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that!"
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @09:19PM
Sometimes people with random illnesses (say, a minor viral infection) come to a doctor and demand antibiotics.
Antibiotics have no effect on viral infections; they kill off unresistant bacteria. But because the bacteria don't always fully die from the antibiotics (especially when people stop taking them before the duration of the prescription has expired because their symptoms have gone away), the general population of bacteria in the wild become more resistant to specific antibiotics the more they're prescribed.
So sometimes doctors knowingly prescribe antibiotics that have been ineffective for decades.
Kills three birds with one stone: the patient is mollified, they get their placebo effect, and the still-viable antibiotics aren't weakened frivolously.
Fortunately for us, people are too stupid to Google.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 27 2019, @09:36PM
A) Yes, that's true of the majority of people.
B) Is that a bad thing, in this particular instance?
Sure, it's bad overall that the majority of the world population neither knows enough nor cares enough to whip out the cellphone and have Google/Wikipedia explain the unknown contents of these pills they're putting in their bodies, but... if it's working for them, why should they care?
If people used more placebos, it would become even less important. As it is, "real drugs" like Oxy and combos like FenFen et.al. do mess people up, but Google and Wikipedia are only going to tell you about the old baddies that any competent physician would never be prescribing anyway. The new badness remains to be exposed and lots of it is being peddled by M.D.s for their lap-dancing, kickback paying, pharma reps. When's the last time you got a good lap dance AND they paid you $70K? https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/30/stripper-turned-pharma-exec-gave-doctor-lap-dance-get-him-prescribe-drugs-officials-say/?utm_term=.4b42d9581e48 [washingtonpost.com]
🌻🌻 [google.com]