The placebo and its effects: A psychoneuroendocrinological perspective

Placebos have a longstanding history, in which their effects to the most part have either been utilized to separate the therapeutic wheat from the interventional chaff or to comfort patients considered untreatable or incurable (Kaptchuk, 1998). But although its use in randomized placebo-controlled trials can be traced back to Henry K. Beecher (1955) notorious claim that the placebo having powerful clinical effects in a third of patients some 60 years ago, the underlying principle – to control incidental and to manipulate characteristic treatment constituents – was employed much earlier and also in non-medical settings.

Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - August 3, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jens Gaab Tags: Review Source Type: research