Study: Open-Label Placebos Relieve Fatigue in Cancer Patients

It is common for cancer patients to experience fatigue during and after cancer treatment. Fatigue usually lessens as patients recover, but some patients experience long-term fatigue that gets in the way of the things they want to do. Mesothelioma survivors are among the many cancer patients who cope with fatigue once treatment ends. New research conducted by scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Harvard Medical School shows cancer-related fatigue can be relieved by a placebo pill. This relief even occurs when patients are aware they are taking a placebo, known as open-label placebo. A placebo is anything that appears to be a real medical treatment, but isn’t. Patients are usually told harmless, inactive pills are active medicine that will treat a given condition. Open-label placebos seem to undermine the concept of placebos entirely. But this new study showed placebos have an effect even when patients are told the medicine being prescribed isn’t real. The study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, showed a 29 percent improvement in fatigue severity and a 39 percent improvement in the degree to which fatigue interrupted quality of life. These results suggest survivors of mesothelioma might experience improvements in fatigue with the help of a placebo pill. Deception Unnecessary for Placebo to Work The study aimed to compare the effects of open-label placebo to treatment as usual (TAU) among cancer survivors reporting moderate to severe fatigue. Part...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news