110
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by doctorcrimson@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

EDIT: Let's cool it with the downvotes, dudes. We're not out to cut funding to your black hole detection chamber or revoke the degrees of chiropractors just because a couple of us don't believe in it, okay? Chill out, participate with the prompt and continue with having a nice day. I'm sure almost everybody has something to add.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 21 points 10 months ago

There's something up with the placebo effect.

[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Sometimes, people just get better. Your mood affects your heart rate, your blood sugar, your mobility even. Thinking you are getting better helps you get better. This isn't controversial, the placebo effect has long been understood and accounted for in experimental design.

[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 6 points 10 months ago

What I don't understand then is why we don't try to take advantage of this effect more often. If I have a small chance of making people feel better with a sugar pill, why not give out sugar pills and claim they have miracle effects all the time?

[-] VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca 8 points 10 months ago

We do, I remember my friends mom had pills labeled placebo, and she said they where making her feel better, me and my friend looked at eachother and said nothing in front of her mom. When we where alone together we laughed a little and agreed that we shouldn't say anything since her mom was doing better.

[-] fhqwhgads@lemmy.ml 9 points 10 months ago

One of the remarkable things is that a placebo still works even if you know it's a placebo.

[-] VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Because you expect it to work to some degree because you know about the placebo effect.

[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

We do. But if you were aware of it, it wouldn't work.

[-] macrocephalic@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

But placebos do still work when you know they're placebos.

[-] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 10 months ago

Sometimes but not in all people. It's worth keeping it low key just for that.

[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 0 points 10 months ago

They also work better if they're an injection as opposed to a pill

[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 0 points 10 months ago

Then do injections, which are more effective placebos than pills are.

[-] 211@sopuli.xyz 1 points 10 months ago

Because we've decided it's nonethical for healthcare professionals. Any doctor knowingly prescribing placebo and lying about it could get in some major trouble. Like a couple decades ago I heard a psychiatrist mourn the loss of disulfiram (antabuse) implants from their treatment arsenal; it worked very well as a placebo but research didn't show a clear improvement over placebo, so they could no longer use it.

I am kind of glad that non-license-needing wellness consultants can still use the placebo effect for good, even if it is sometimes predatory and sometimes outright dangerous.

this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
110 points (63.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26669 readers
1430 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS