When is a placebo not a true placebo? When it’s a supercharged placebo

This intriguing headline caught my eye: “Fake Pills Can Work, Even if Patients Know it.”

“Fake pills,” of course, refers to placebo pills.

In a recent study, Harvard researchers recruited 80 volunteers to either take a placebo or receive no treatment at all. Each member of the placebo group was told she was taking an inert placebo pill. (Nearly all subjects were women.)

And here’s how an NPR report described the volunteers’ conditions: “Long-standing irritable bowel syndrome or IBS, a nasty stress-related ailment involving abdominal bloating, cramps, and diarrhea alternating sometimes with constipation.”

After 21 days, the results were remarkable.

Nearly 60 percent of the placebo subjects reported adequate relief with virtually no treatment other than a pill that subjects KNEW was a fake, inert, useless pill.

In their conclusions the authors write: “Placebos administered without deception may be an effective treatment for IBS.”

No deception. Amazing!

But in the NPR report, one of the researchers says he told study subjects that the placebo “is something that will help you with your symptoms, there’s a good chance of making you feel better. You just need to take it regularly, and the drug will work over time if you give it a chance.”

Does that sound like “no deception” to you?

Uh…no…it’s a COMPLETE deception!

In a normal clinical study, subjects are given pills and told NOTHING about the pills because even the researchers don’t know which subjects are getting an active pill or a placebo. THAT’S no deception.

In this study, subjects were actually told they would have a good chance of feeling better.

That’s not a placebo effect. It’s a supercharged placebo effect!

Sources:
“Placebos without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome” PLoS ONE, Vol. 5, No. 12, 12/22/10, plosone.org
“Fake Pills Can Work, Even if Patients Know it” Richard Knox, NPR, 12/23/10, npr.org