Not really apropos, but interesting (to me, anyway). Someone (I forgot who;
I'm sorry) said once that the entire history of medicine before 1900 is a
history of the placebo effect. I think it's a bit of an exaggeration, but
just a bit.
m
--
Marc Carter, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
College of Arts Sciences
Baker University
--
From: Frantz, Sue [mailto:sfra...@highline.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 12:22 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: [tips] Placebos getting stronger?
Through the Improbable Research blog comes this article from Wired,
Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all
An excerpt:
Some products that have been on the market for decades, like Prozac,
are faltering in more recent follow-up tests. In many cases, these are the
compounds that, in the late '90s, made Big Pharma more profitable than Big Oil.
But if these same drugs were vetted now, the FDA might not approve some of
them. Two comprehensive analyses of antidepressant trials have uncovered a
dramatic increase in placebo response since the 1980s. One estimated that the
so-called effect size (a measure of statistical significance) in placebo groups
had nearly doubled over that time.
It's not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say.
It's as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.
Additionally the article provides a nice history and overview of the
modern placebo effect as well as some current applications, such as this
(ethically suspect) one.
One recent afternoon in [Fabrizio Benedetti's] lab [at the University
of Turin], a young soccer player grimaced with exertion while doing leg curls
on a weight machine. Benedetti and his colleagues were exploring the potential
of using Pavlovian conditioning to give athletes a competitive edge
undetectable by anti-doping authorities. A player would receive doses of a
performance-enhancing drug for weeks and then a jolt of placebo just before
competition.
--
Sue Frantz http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/
Highline Community College
Psychology, CoordinatorDes Moines, WA
206.878.3710 x3404 sfra...@highline.edu
mailto:sfra...@highline.edu
Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology, Associate Director
Project Syllabus http://teachpsych.org/otrp/syllabi/syllabi.php
APA Division 2: Society for the Teaching of Psychology
http://teachpsych.org/otrp/syllabi/syllabi.php
APA's p...@cc Committee http://www.apa.org/ed/pcue/ptatcchome.html
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