[tips] Re: [tips] Sham pills may help us*even without the sham

2011-01-03 Thread William Scott
How soon we forget. We've known this for a long time see Park & Covi
(1965) -- however this was just a group case study:

Title:Nonblind placebo trial.
Author:Park, Lee C.;Covi, Lino
Author Affiliation:Johns Hopkins Hosp., Baltimore
Appears In:  Archives of General Psychiatry.  12(4),  1965, 336-345. 
Abstract:  15 anxious, neurotic outpatients were placed on placebo
treatment for 1 week after being informed the pills contained inert
material. 14 reported improvement. 8 Ss believed the pills were
placebos. Only 3 were absolutely certain of this. 6 Ssthought the pills
contained drugs, with 2 Ss absolutely certain. Improvement was not
related to belief in the nature of the pills but did appear related to
certainty of belief. Main finding: patients can be willing to take
placebo and can improvedespite knowledge of the inert content of the
pills. Belief in pill as drug was not a requirement for improvement. (25
ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record © 2009 APA, all rights reserved)


>>> "Pollak, Edward"  01/03/11 2:13 PM >>>
P {MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px} 

This is not surprising to me given that classical conditioning can
produce a "placebo effect" in rats. In fact, now that I'm thinking about
it, why can't any (classically) conditioned stimulus but regarded as a
placebo?
 
Ed
 
Sham pills may help us—even without the sham
Sham pills, known as place­bos, have been used in count­less med­i­cal
stud­ies for dec­ades. By com­par­ing their ef­fects to those of real
med­i­cines, re­search­ers can dis­count the pos­si­bil­ity that the
true drugs work mere­ly be­cause the idea of hav­ing been treated makes
us feel bet­ter.

But re­search­ers say they now seem to have made a sur­prise dis­covery.
Not only do the fake pills tru­ly make some pa­tients feel
im­proved—that much was al­ready known—but they can even work when
the doc­tors drop any pre­tense that this is real med­i­cine.
 

For more see http://www.world-science.net/othernews/101222_placebo.htm 
 
Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/home.htm


Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, & bluegrass fiddler..
in approximate order of importance.





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[tips] Re: [tips] Sham pills may help us*even without the sham

2011-01-03 Thread Maxwell Gwynn
 
All I can say is "Sham-Wow!"
 
-Max 

>>> "Pollak, Edward"  1/3/2011 3:11:38 PM >>>


 

This is not surprising to me given that classical conditioning can
produce a "placebo effect" in rats. In fact, now that I'm thinking about
it, why can't any (classically) conditioned stimulus but regarded as a
placebo? 
 
Ed
 
Sham pills may help us*even without the shamSham pills, known as
placebos, have been used in countless medical studies for decades. By
comparing their effects to those of real medicines, researchers can
discount the possibility that the true drugs work merely because the
idea of having been treated makes us feel better.

But researchers say they now seem to have made a surprise discovery.
Not only do the fake pills truly make some patients feel improved*that
much was already known*but they can even work when the doctors drop any
pretense that this is real medicine.  
For more see http://www.world-science.net/othernews/101222_placebo.htm

  Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D.Department of PsychologyWest Chester
University of
Pennsylvaniahttp://home.comcast.net/~epollak/home.htmHusband,
father, grandfather, biopsychologist, & bluegrass fiddler.. in
approximate order of importance.





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[tips] Sham pills may help us—even without the sham

2011-01-03 Thread Pollak, Edward
This is not surprising to me given that classical conditioning can produce a 
"placebo effect" in rats. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, why can't 
any (classically) conditioned stimulus but regarded as a placebo?



Ed



Sham pills may help us—even without the sham

Sham pills, known as place­bos, have been used in count­less med­i­cal stud­ies 
for dec­ades. By com­par­ing their ef­fects to those of real med­i­cines, 
re­search­ers can dis­count the pos­si­bil­ity that the true drugs work mere­ly 
be­cause the idea of hav­ing been treated makes us feel bet­ter.

But re­search­ers say they now seem to have made a sur­prise dis­covery. Not 
only do the fake pills tru­ly make some pa­tients feel im­proved—that much was 
al­ready known—but they can even work when the doc­tors drop any pre­tense that 
this is real med­i­cine.



For more see http://www.world-science.net/othernews/101222_placebo.htm



Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/home.htm

Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, & bluegrass fiddler.. in 
approximate order of importance.

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