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This issue of practitioner/physician belief is a fascinating one.
Undoubtedly confidence is infectious. Would this be considered an aspect of the placebo effect?
Very interesting question--I think maybe it's time to see if there's an accepted definition of "placebo effect," to see if the mental attitude of the "placebist" is taken into account (or the strength in which they believe in the placebo, etc.)
If "placebo effect" is simply "Group A was told it was receiving aspirin, and 70% of Group A reported decrease in pain," I think we can probably safely say that "placebo effect" relates only to the information dispensed ("You are getting aspirin,") and isn't conditioned by individual states of mind beyond that.
I stand by the thought that healing is healing--meaning, the body, in the end, is the only thing which heals or doesn't heal; all medicine, all therapies, all treatment, is a way to get the body to heal itself. With that view, it doesn't matter quite as much what the "trigger" for that healing is; they're all important.
A placebo (pluh-see-bow) is a substance or other kind of treatment that looks just like a regular treatment or medicine, but it is not. It is actually an inactive "look-alike" treatment or substance. This means that it is not a medicine. The person who is getting a placebo does not know for sure that the treatment is not real. Sometimes the placebo is in the form of a "sugar pill," but a placebo can also be an injection, a liquid, a procedure, or any other type of therapy that doesn't directly affect the illness being treated.
Even though placebos do not act on the disease, they seem to have an effect in about 1 out of 3 patients. A change in a person's symptoms as a result of getting a placebo is called the placebo effect. Usually the term "placebo effect" speaks to the helpful effects of a placebo in relieving symptoms. This effect usually lasts only a short time, and is thought have something to do with the body's own chemical ability to briefly relieve pain or certain other symptoms.
But sometimes the effect goes the other way, and causes unpleasant or worse symptoms. These may include headaches, nervousness, nausea, or constipation, to name a few of the possible "side effects." The unpleasant effects that happen after getting a placebo or an inactive treatment are sometimes called the nocebo effect.
Together, these 2 types of outcomes are sometimes called expectation effects. This means that the person taking the placebo may experience something along the lines of what he or she expects to happen. If a person expects to feel better, that may happen. If the person believes that he or she is getting a strong medicine, the placebo may be thought to cause the side effects. The placebo does not cause any of these effects directly. Instead, the person's belief in or experience of the placebo helps change the symptoms, or change the way the person perceives the symptoms.
Along with the placebo or nocebo effect, incidental events (unrelated effects that may have happened without the placebo) may also be linked to the placebo because of their timing. For example, a headache or rash that happens soon after taking a placebo may be caused by something else entirely, but the person may think the placebo caused it. The same can be said for good outcomes: if a person happened to start feeling better after taking a placebo, that improvement may be thought to be due to the placebo.
Some patients can have the placebo effect without getting a pill, shot, or procedure. Some may just feel better from visiting the doctor or doing something else they believe in. That type of placebo effect seems most related to the degree of confidence and faith the patient has in the doctor or activity.
With that view, it doesn't matter quite as much what the "trigger" for that healing is; they're all important.
Sure, providing it works.
Exactly--what works matters, regardless of what it is that works.
Sometimes what works is not taking a specific drug, too. So many variables. So I guess we could amend the above sentence to include, "what works against the body (healing) matters as well."
I think the detrimental effects of "Action A" often don't get the same attention as the positive effects of "Action B." Partly because "not selling something" isn't nearly as interesting as "selling something" (and also because when we are sick, we like to "take action," feel we have some control over the issue).
It would help if we could come to realize that abstaining from a certain action is taking action.
I should add that I don't completely agree with the above description of "placebo effect," but it comes from a "standard of all standards" source, so figured it was a good place to start in looking at, at least, what the "standard" medical community accepts it to be.
For example, I find this hilarious:
"...placebo can also be an injection, a liquid, a procedure, or any other type of therapy that doesn't directly affect the illness being treated. Even though placebos do not act on the disease, they seem to have an effect in about 1 out of 3 patients."
In other words, it doesn't directly affect the illness (except in 33% of all human beings)
Or in even other words, when the effect comes from a venerated (until tomorrow) medicine, the "healing" of a headache counts; when the effect comes from the patient's own mind, the "healing" of the headache doesn't count.
I realize they condition this statement by going on to suggest that a placebo-healed headache would likely return sooner than a venerated-medicine-healed headache, but still, the hubris amuses me.
Comments
Would this be considered an aspect of the placebo effect?
If "placebo effect" is simply "Group A was told it was receiving aspirin, and 70% of Group A reported decrease in pain," I think we can probably safely say that "placebo effect" relates only to the information dispensed ("You are getting aspirin,") and isn't conditioned by individual states of mind beyond that.
I stand by the thought that healing is healing--meaning, the body, in the end, is the only thing which heals or doesn't heal; all medicine, all therapies, all treatment, is a way to get the body to heal itself. With that view, it doesn't matter quite as much what the "trigger" for that healing is; they're all important.
What is the placebo effect?
A placebo (pluh-see-bow) is a substance or other kind of treatment that looks just like a regular treatment or medicine, but it is not. It is actually an inactive "look-alike" treatment or substance. This means that it is not a medicine. The person who is getting a placebo does not know for sure that the treatment is not real. Sometimes the placebo is in the form of a "sugar pill," but a placebo can also be an injection, a liquid, a procedure, or any other type of therapy that doesn't directly affect the illness being treated.
Even though placebos do not act on the disease, they seem to have an effect in about 1 out of 3 patients. A change in a person's symptoms as a result of getting a placebo is called the placebo effect. Usually the term "placebo effect" speaks to the helpful effects of a placebo in relieving symptoms. This effect usually lasts only a short time, and is thought have something to do with the body's own chemical ability to briefly relieve pain or certain other symptoms.
But sometimes the effect goes the other way, and causes unpleasant or worse symptoms. These may include headaches, nervousness, nausea, or constipation, to name a few of the possible "side effects." The unpleasant effects that happen after getting a placebo or an inactive treatment are sometimes called the nocebo effect.
Together, these 2 types of outcomes are sometimes called expectation effects. This means that the person taking the placebo may experience something along the lines of what he or she expects to happen. If a person expects to feel better, that may happen. If the person believes that he or she is getting a strong medicine, the placebo may be thought to cause the side effects. The placebo does not cause any of these effects directly. Instead, the person's belief in or experience of the placebo helps change the symptoms, or change the way the person perceives the symptoms.
Along with the placebo or nocebo effect, incidental events (unrelated effects that may have happened without the placebo) may also be linked to the placebo because of their timing. For example, a headache or rash that happens soon after taking a placebo may be caused by something else entirely, but the person may think the placebo caused it. The same can be said for good outcomes: if a person happened to start feeling better after taking a placebo, that improvement may be thought to be due to the placebo.
Some patients can have the placebo effect without getting a pill, shot, or procedure. Some may just feel better from visiting the doctor or doing something else they believe in. That type of placebo effect seems most related to the degree of confidence and faith the patient has in the doctor or activity.
http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/placebo-effect
Sometimes what works is not taking a specific drug, too. So many variables. So I guess we could amend the above sentence to include, "what works against the body (healing) matters as well."
I think the detrimental effects of "Action A" often don't get the same attention as the positive effects of "Action B." Partly because "not selling something" isn't nearly as interesting as "selling something" (and also because when we are sick, we like to "take action," feel we have some control over the issue).
It would help if we could come to realize that abstaining from a certain action is taking action.
For example, I find this hilarious:
"...placebo can also be an injection, a liquid, a procedure, or any other type of therapy that doesn't directly affect the illness being treated. Even though placebos do not act on the disease, they seem to have an effect in about 1 out of 3 patients."
In other words, it doesn't directly affect the illness (except in 33% of all human beings)
Or in even other words, when the effect comes from a venerated (until tomorrow) medicine, the "healing" of a headache counts; when the effect comes from the patient's own mind, the "healing" of the headache doesn't count.
I realize they condition this statement by going on to suggest that a placebo-healed headache would likely return sooner than a venerated-medicine-healed headache, but still, the hubris amuses me.