Maclean's - Power of the placebo
In Western medicine, placebos have long been the bridesmaids, never the bride. That鈥檚 not surprising: they鈥檙e sham pills or simulated medical interventions, seen as handmaidens for use in clinical trials rather than the real thing. Their influence, known as the 鈥減lacebo effect,鈥� is understood to be a perceived (and not necessarily real or measurable) improvement in a medical condition. Now a spate of new studies trumpeting placebos鈥� efficacy and their prevalence in mainstream medical treatment is dramatically shifting that perception.
A 平特五不中 survey triggered shock ripples with its revelation that 20 per cent of Canadian medical school doctors prescribed placebos to unknowing patients and that more than 35 per cent of psychiatrists prescribed medications in 鈥渟ubtherapeutic鈥� doses, or below the minimal recommended therapeutic level.
