Placebos

Almost everyone has needed to take medicine at some point in their life. During that time, the patient operates under the assumption that the medication that they are consuming will work; this assumption plays a large role in medicine’s effectiveness. The placebo effect is a physiological phenomenon that helps the body recover just by thinking it has consumed working medicine (Patterson & Schroder, 2022). Placebos, or medications that do not target the patient’s ailment, have great implications in the medical field, as they can provide patients with a safe and cheaper medication that sometimes works better than the usually prescribed drug.  

With placebos, despite not consuming any actual medicine, the body reacts as if it had. Under the right conditions, placebos work just as well as traditional medicine. While placebos are not completely understood in the medical field, there are several generally regarded truths about the neurobiological reaction. For example, much of the effectiveness of a placebo relies on the ritual of taking the medicine, known as expectation and conditioning (Patterson & Schroder, 2022). As the action of taking a pill is associated with recovery, the body starts producing chemicals to make the body feel better. Scientists have found that the placebo effect works better with expensive, brand name pills or larger pills because the brain expects that these medications will work better. Additionally, injections deliver a larger placebo effect than pills because the brain expects this treatment to work better (Newman, n.d.). In essence, the placebo effect tricks the brain into acting as if it has been healed and it no longer has certain ailments. This occurs because the brain associates actions that the patient took with a healing effect.

The use of placebos creates measurable changes in the body. Examples of this are changes in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as changes at the neural level, where using a placebo is linked to increased dopamine and opioid receptor activity (Newman, n.d.). Additionally, this creates greater activity in specific areas of the brain. In a study of people with chronic knee osteoarthritis, brain scans were administered before and after a placebo was given. The people who felt pain relief after the placebo had greater activity in the frontal lobe of their brain (LeWine, 2024). This is a result of the specific component of the placebo effect, placebo analgesia, which is the reduction of pain through releasing natural painkillers in the form of endorphins or changing how severely the patient views their pain to be (Newman, n.d.).

Occasionally, the placebo effect helps a patient feel better than the effect of a drug. As a result, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now requires all medicines to be tested with three groups: a control group that takes nothing, a placebo group, and a group that takes the actual medicine, to ensure the effectiveness of the drug. When a placebo is stronger than the actual medication, the drug is not approved because it proves the medication is not all that effective. As a result, many drug developers are against placebos, as they mask the benefits of their product (Patterson & Schroder, 2022). 

Clinical trials are not the only way that placebos are used in the modern world. Many doctors use placebos and the placebo effect to help their patients get well. A 2008 study in Denmark found that 48% of doctors had given their patients placebos at least ten times in the past year (Newman, n.d.). Additionally, a 2013 study in the United Kingdom found that 97% of physicians acknowledged using a placebo at some point in their career, even if the use was simply the doctor telling their patient that a medication will work (Patterson & Schroder, 2022). Additionally, a 2004 study done in Israel found that 60% of doctors prescribed placebos to patients who wanted unneeded medicine, or who needed “calming” (Newman, n.d.). The reason for all this use of placebos in place of medicine is because placebos offer a non-toxic, cheaper, and non-addictive way to treat many medical issues (Patterson & Schroder, 2022). As such, placebos used in the medical world may benefit patients, explaining their frequent usage.

Many questions are raised about the ethics of using placebos in medicine, since the patient is not receiving the medicine that they expected. This can be exceptionally detrimental to a patient with a more serious medical condition, as they would not be receiving the treatment they need. As such, these patients are often not the subject of placebos (Newman, n.d.). The American Medical Association considers placebos ethical to enhance healing but only if the patient agrees to one being used. However, this creates an issue as placebos typically work better when people do not know they are taking one (LeWine, 2024). While there are still ethical questions, many experts are still pushing for greater use of placebos due to their benefits (Patterson & Schroder, 2022).

The placebo effect, a natural occurrence where the body associates actions the patient took with a healing effect, have found a home in modern medicine. While they cannot be used to solve every condition, they play a large role in recovery. Even medications that provide relief in and of themselves also are in part reliant on the placebo effect. Since placebos have great healing capabilities, they are an important tool for doctors.

References

LeWine, H. E. (Ed.). (2024, July 22). The power of the placebo effect. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect

Newman, T. (n.d.). Is the placebo effect real? (T. J. Legg, Ed.). Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306437#what-is-the-placebo-effect

Patterson, E. H., & Schroder, H. (2022, February 11). In research studies and in real life, placebos have a powerful healing effect on the body and mind. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/in-research-studies-and-in-real-life-placebos-have-a-powerful-healing-effect-on-the-body-and-mind-173845