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A placebo can work even when you know it’s a placebo - Harvard Health

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ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Follow me at @mallikamarshall If your doctor told you that she was giving you a placebo and that it would help you, would you believe her? As it turns out, based on new research, maybe you should. Placebos are often considered “fake” treatments. You may have heard them described as “sugar pills.” They usually take the form of pills, injections, or even entire procedures that are used in clinical trials to test “real” treatments. For example, one group of study participants is given an active drug and another group is given a placebo, which looks exactly like the active medication but is completely inactive. The participants can’t tell whether they’re

July 7, 2016 By Mallika Marshall, MD , Contributing Editor Share {} }" > Share this page to Facebook Share this page to X Share this page via Email { this.copied = true; setTimeout(() => this.copied = false, 1000); }); } }" > Copy this page to clipboard Print This Page Click to Print ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or

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