Chapter 04 of 5
Honest Placebos
Placebos that help even when patients know they're fake.
- The Problem
Placebos need lies?
Traditionally, placebos were thought to work only if patients believed they were real — which means deceiving them.
- 2010
A surprising experiment
Researchers at Harvard gave people with irritable bowel syndrome pills clearly labelled as placebos.
- The Honesty
Told the truth
Patients were told the pills contained no medicine, but that placebo pills can produce improvements through mind-body processes.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
What made the 2010 irritable bowel syndrome placebo study unusual?
💊 The Power of Expectation
- 01Sugar Pills That WorkThe placebo effect — what it is, and what it can and can't do.
- 02The Nocebo EffectWhen expecting harm makes you feel worse.
- 03Fake Surgery, Real ResultsTrials where pretend operations worked as well as real ones.
- 04Honest PlacebosPlacebos that help even when patients know they're fake.
- 05What's Really HappeningSeparating real placebo effects from things that only look like them.