"If you’ve tried one of the various formulations of medical cannabis (marijuana) in hopes of easing your chronic pain, you’re far from alone. Treating pain is by far the most common reason offered by the many millions of Americans who use products that contain cannabinoids, the main active components in marijuana.
"However, there’s good evidence that a cannabis placebo — a substance designed to mimic the real thing in appearance, smell, taste, and feel — provides very similar pain relief as a cannabis-based product, according to a new review in JAMA Network Open. But why?"
Click on the link below for the latest research on the effects of this substance on pain. Interestingly, it also appears that "With the exception of opioids, most pain-relieving medications are barely better than a placebo":
Human knowledge has progressed exponentially since the dawn of modern science. It is no longer reasonable to accept claims without sufficient objective evidence. The harm from religion, alternatives to medicine, conservatism, and all other false beliefs will be exposed on this blog by reporting the findings of science. This blog will also reinforce what should be the basics of education: History, Civics, Financial Literacy, Media Literacy, and Critical/Science Based Thinking.
Showing posts with label Placebo Effect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Placebo Effect. Show all posts
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Cannabis (Marijuana) Is A Placebo
Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Kinesio Tape: Another Sports Medicine Placebo
"There is extensive literature on K-Tape. Despite a sprinkling of positive studies—showing a small benefit on ankle proprioception and stability—the data are overwhelmingly insignificant. A key-word search on PubMed (a popular online search tool for life sciences and biomedical research) returned fifteen review articles and/or meta-analyses, authored by various groups and institutions, that have summarized the effects of K-Tape on injury management, rehabilitation, and exercise performance. I encourage you to study their methods and results independently, but here are the cliff notes, organized by body part."
Click on the link below for the details:
Thursday, February 15, 2018
The Deception Can Be Eliminated And It Still Can Be Effective
Every science-based thinker knows about the Placebo Effect. Traditionally part of controlled medical experiments, it is used deceptively. Also, it is clear that the "effectiveness" of prayer/religion and alternatives to medicine is purely a placebo, and, likewise, instilled through deception by dogma and indoctrination. This article presents the results of some very interesting and promising experiments showing the possibilities and values of the use of the Placebo Effect sans the deception of religion and alternatives to medicine.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Placebo Effect Updates
"'Given the enormous societal toll of
chronic pain, being able to predict placebo responders in a chronic pain
population could both help the design of personalized medicine and
enhance the success of clinical trials,' said Marwan Baliki, PhD, a
research scientist at RIC and an assistant professor of physical
medicine and rehabilitation at Northwestern University Feinberg School
of Medicine."
Placebo Effect is All in Our Heads
"In a sense both Pauletich and Mödl participated in a performance, one that we humans have been engaging in for thousands of years, every time we go to healers with the hope that they can make us feel better. And just as a good performance in a theater can draw us in until we feel we’re watching something real, the theater of healing is designed to draw us in by creating powerful expectations in our brains. These expectations drive the so-called placebo effect, which can affect what happens in our bodies as well. Scientists have known about the placebo effect for decades and have used it as a control in drug trials. Now they are seeing placebos as a window into the neurochemical mechanisms that connect the mind with the body, belief with experience."
Unlocking the Healing Power of You
Why do Placebos Work?
Placebo Effect is All in Our Heads
"In a sense both Pauletich and Mödl participated in a performance, one that we humans have been engaging in for thousands of years, every time we go to healers with the hope that they can make us feel better. And just as a good performance in a theater can draw us in until we feel we’re watching something real, the theater of healing is designed to draw us in by creating powerful expectations in our brains. These expectations drive the so-called placebo effect, which can affect what happens in our bodies as well. Scientists have known about the placebo effect for decades and have used it as a control in drug trials. Now they are seeing placebos as a window into the neurochemical mechanisms that connect the mind with the body, belief with experience."
Unlocking the Healing Power of You
Why do Placebos Work?
Saturday, October 22, 2016
The Hawthorne Effect
"The distilled narrative of what is the Hawthorne Effect
is this – the act of observing people’s behavior changes that behavior.
The name derives from experiments conducted between 1924 and 1933 in
Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne, a suburb of Chicago. The
experimenters made various changes to the working environment, like
changing light levels, and noticed that regardless of the change,
performance increased. If they increased light levels, performance
increased. If they decreased light levels, performance increased. They
eventually concluded that observing the workers was leading to the
performance increase, and the actual change in working conditions was
irrelevant. This is now referred to as an observer effect, but also the
term Hawthorn Effect was coined in 1953 by psychologist J.R.P. French."
The Hawthorne Effect Revisited
The Hawthorne Effect Revisited
Sunday, August 28, 2016
The Placebo Effect Gets More Scrutiny
"Hype about the 'amazing' placebo effect says more about the cultural
appeal of the idea than it does about solid evidence supporting it. This
is a troubling sign that an idea that resonates with experience and
cultural meaning may be alluring enough to evade scrutiny, even among
scientists. The best evidence indicates that the placebo effect is not a
general phenomenon. But at some level it seems that evidence is beside
the point; we simply want to believe. Perhaps belief in the placebo effect is itself the ultimate placebo effect."
The Myth of the Placebo Effect
The Myth of the Placebo Effect
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Sports Rituals And Superstitions
"I suspect that getting cupping prior to a race is no more effective than
getting a relaxing massage minus any dubious health claims about toxins
or chi. Visualizing your floor routine is probably as or more effective
than rubbing your lucky charm."
Do Superstitious Rituals Help Performance?
Do Superstitious Rituals Help Performance?
Monday, June 20, 2016
The Middling Power Of The Placebo Effect
"Alternative medicine practitioners love the placebo effect. To many of
them, it is proof that the mind can heal the body through the power of
positive thinking. While that is a tempting narrative, it is very much a
tall tale. The placebo effect is not nearly as powerful as it's billed
to be, nor can it be controlled with a simple thought."
Outside the setting of clinical trials, there is no justification for the use of placebos
Outside the setting of clinical trials, there is no justification for the use of placebos
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
"It Worked For Me"
An in depth look at the Placebo Effect. Note, we all are subject to it, thus, the need for controlled studies with all medical interventions.
It is hard to shake the sense that if someone feels better then the treatment must have “worked” in some way.
It is hard to shake the sense that if someone feels better then the treatment must have “worked” in some way.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Why Do Some Physicians Embrace Quackery?
"Ernst is quite correct to conclude, as he does, that “health care
professionals need to systematically learn critical thinking early on in
their education.” However, in the US at least, medicine itself needs to
change the features in it that reinforce the use of alternative
medicine, such as the hamster wheel schedule that so many primary care
doctors must adhere to in order to support themselves."
We tend to remember the good outcomes and forget the bad. It’s not that we do this intentionally. It’s just that confirmation bias is part of human nature.
We tend to remember the good outcomes and forget the bad. It’s not that we do this intentionally. It’s just that confirmation bias is part of human nature.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Placebo Effects Analyzed
The subject of placebo effects frequently appears when discussing
alternative medicine/CAM. Following is from what I consider a good
article on the subject by Steven Novella, MD of the Science-Based
Medicine blog and The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast:
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
The Truth About Placebos
" - - - we should provide companionship and positive attention without the pseudoscientific magical claims. In fact, you can do this while administering science-based treatments, or just as an intervention in themselves. We used to call this good bedside manner, or just good nursing care, now it is marketed to patients as a separate intervention wrapped in utter nonsense."
This is MUST reading for all who think placebos are ethical and harmless. Just with religion, all alternatives to medicine are harmful in some way.
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-ethics-of-prescribing-worthless-treatments/
This is MUST reading for all who think placebos are ethical and harmless. Just with religion, all alternatives to medicine are harmful in some way.
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-ethics-of-prescribing-worthless-treatments/
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Placebo Effects And Study Designs
Are study designs causing an apparent increase of placebo effects in the USA? An interesting look at placebos.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
The Nocebo Effect
The other side of the placebo coin:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150210-can-you-think-yourself-to-death
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150210-can-you-think-yourself-to-death
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The Placebo Effect
The Placebo Effect is not what you may think it is. A long, but informative, article on the subject.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/placebo-are-you-there/
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/placebo-are-you-there/
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