For years, doctors and researchers have known about the Placebo effect on patients. In cases of Pain, Asthma, high blood pressure and Angina, a placebo has shown very positive results in the improvement of overall health. But, researchers have recently uncovered an interesting twist to the placebo effect.
According to a report released in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients who believe they are taking a drug that costs more, are more apt to report positive effects from the medication, even if the medication is a placebo.
The study included 80 participants who were paid to undergo a series of electric shocks to the wrist area of the body. One half of the patients were given a placebo painkiller and told the medication costs $2.50 retail per pill. The other half were given the same placebo painkiller, but were told the medication retailed for only 10 cents a pill.
By the end of the study, 60% of the patients who were given the 10 cent placebo reported a reduction in pain from the electric shock. The higher priced placebo painkiller, on the other hand, reduced pain in 85% of the participants.
Researchers believe one reason placebos work is due to a raising of expectations. If a person believes the placebo will take care of the medical condition they are suffering from, the mind takes over and begins to heal the pain independently of medication. The results of this study simply reinforced this belief. Dan Ariely from Duke University offered, “It says something about our expectations and how they shape reality. Price is just one of the things we use to make inferences.”
This study was not the first to reveal the positive effects of placebos on medical conditions. According to Irving Kirsch, who studied more than 30
Clinical trials of varying anti-depressant medications found very little difference between the effect of the placebo and the prescribed medication on patients suffering from mild
Depression.
The mental healing powers of the mind are something researchers have studied in a multitude of different clinical trials. One such study found that the brain reacts differently when a person is told they are drinking wine that costs nearly $100 a bottle versus wine costing only $5 per bottle.
Optimism is thought to play a significant role in the effect of placebos on the body. “It's not just that optimistic people feel better, they actually do better,” claims Michael Scheier, head of the Psychology department at Carnegie Melon.
