Navigation Links
Delving Into the Mystery of Placebos
Date:7/13/2011

to each approach during several visits during which their ability to exhale was tested. The visits were three to seven days apart for a total of 12 interventions in all.

Overall, the albuterol inhaler improved exhaling by 20 percent. Each of the other approaches (including no treatment) improved it by just 7 percent overall.

So what did the patients think? Overall, they thought both inhalers (the real and fake ones) and the sham acupuncture improved their breathing by about the same amount (the albuterol inhaler by 50 percent, the fake inhaler by 45 percent, and the sham acupuncture by 46 percent). They thought doing nothing only improved it by 21 percent.

The research raises plenty of questions, said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. For one, he said, "how reliable are patients in terms of their subjective reporting of their symptoms? When a patient tells you that they feel better, and you think they really need more than what you're doing, should you stop? It really calls into question what we're doing, whether it's good enough to help the patients feel better."

The study authors had a similar view of the placebo effect. Due to the wide gap between asthma patients' self-reports and their actual lung function, the researchers concluded that for optimal asthma care, health providers should test lung function rather than rely on patients' self-assessments.

And in clinical trials in general, the authors added, "reliance solely on subjective outcomes may be inherently unreliable."

The study appears in the July 14 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. It was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

More information

For more on the placebo effect, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

SOURCES: Ted J. Kaptchuk, O.M.D., as
'/>"/>

Copyright©2010 ScoutNews,LLC.
All rights reserved  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related medicine news :

1. Mystery ingredient in coffee boosts protection against Alzheimers disease
2. Solving a traditional Chinese medicine mystery
3. New clue in leukemia mystery: Researchers identify poison employed by deadly enzyme mutations
4. Scientists May Have Solved an HIV Mystery
5. Scripps Research scientists solve long-standing mystery of protein quality control mechanism
6. Is Frequency the Future of Medicine or an Ancient Mystery Revealed?
7. Parkinsons Transplant Mystery Solved, Researchers Say
8. U of T researchers crack splicing code, solve a mystery underlying biological complexity
9. Scientist, Dr Staninger, Unlocks the Mystery of Morgellons Disease
10. Contact Dermatitis Can Be Irritating, Especially When the Cause is a Mystery
11. The power of placebos
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Delving Into the Mystery of Placebos
(Date:5/23/2013)... GBI Research’s analysis indicates that the global critical care ... of players accounting for a major proportion of the overall ... between 2006 and 2012, possibly due to the lack of ... in the US. , GBI Research estimates that the ... 2012, having grown in size at a CAGR of 11% ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... 2013 MileageAds.com, an American based full ... companies in the Stocks and Bonds Sector to display ... advertise with MileageAds will have the opportunity to take ... Stocks and bonds companies who accept Mileageads.com’s invitation will ... a specific, targeted audience on the internet ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... Boston, Mass, May 23, 2013 Existing research shows that ... risk of brain injury, but researchers at Boston Children,s ... place showed a 20 percent decrease in deaths and ... in bicycle-motor vehicle collisions. , The cross-sectional study, ... Lee, MD, MPH, Rebekah C. Mannix, MD, MPH of ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... The Yoga of Lady Niguma was created by a ... This is the oldest yoga found in written form (in ... the partner of renowned Indian master and yogi Naropa, and the ... a female yoga master. , Lady Niguma taught the practice ... through a long lineage to the second Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso. ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... May 22, 2013 A new study published ... found that of young people who visited fast food or ... who were obese were more likely to use calorie information ... also found that young people eating at fast food or ... likely to use calorie information as those eating there once ...
Breaking Medicine News(10 mins):Health News:MarketResearch.com Report – Increased Cost of Albumin was Main Factor for Double-Digit Growth of Global Critical Care Market Between 2006 and 2012 2Health News:Mileageads.com Ad Network Now Invites Companies in Stocks and Bonds Services Sector to Advertise on Their Ad Network 2Health News:Rate of bicycle-related fatalities significantly lower in states with helmet laws 2Health News:Popular Yoga DVD, Lady Niguma Yoga Released for Sale Online 2Health News:Popular Yoga DVD, Lady Niguma Yoga Released for Sale Online 3Health News:STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00AM EST THURSDAY May 23, 2013; Calorie Information in Fast Food Restaurants Used by 40% of 9-18 Year Olds when Making Food Choices, Study Finds 2Health News:STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00AM EST THURSDAY May 23, 2013; Calorie Information in Fast Food Restaurants Used by 40% of 9-18 Year Olds when Making Food Choices, Study Finds 3
... HealthDay Reporter , WEDNESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) ... to show a benefit for women with a rare lung ... a treatment. The drug, sirolimus (Rapamycin), improved both lung ... or LAM, according to a study published online March 16 ...
... -- On March 28, leading experts across multiple disciplines ... Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes to review the latest ... three-day meeting, hosted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center ... and policymakers representing 60 countries. The Congress director is ...
... Carolina State University shows that while the number of visits ... for park operations has been significantly reduced. The reduction in ... than $20 billion in economic impact that state parks have ... support for operations puts stress on America,s state-park systems," says ...
... follow-up care for depression effectively and efficiently, according to ... that the Journal of General Internal Medicine ... months, compared to the half of the patients randomly ... three online care management contacts with a trained psychiatric ...
... loss and sleep disorders to health problems such as ... latest findings in sleep research will be presented and ... when the SLEEP 2011 25th Anniversary Meeting of the ... Convention Center from June 13 to 15. ...
... -- Newly proposed national standards for mercury, arsenic and ... as many as 17,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart ... Agency. The proposed standards, released Wednesday by the ... prevent 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and 11,000 ...
Cached Medicine News:Health News:Transplant Drug May Fight Rare Lung Disorder 2Health News:Transplant Drug May Fight Rare Lung Disorder 3Health News:Diabetes Surgery 2nd World Congress 2Health News:Diabetes Surgery 2nd World Congress 3Health News:Diabetes Surgery 2nd World Congress 4Health News:Diabetes Surgery 2nd World Congress 5Health News:Study shows attendance at state parks grows, even as funding decreases 2Health News:Online messaging delivers follow-up care for depression 2Health News:EPA Proposes Tougher Air Pollution Rules for Power Plants 2
(Date:5/22/2013)... N.J. , May 22, 2013 MEDIFIRST ... opportunity to update shareholders about some recent company developments. ... expand its avenues of communication with shareholders. Integrating social ... launched a Facebook page and will post updates on ... Twitter hashtag is #medifirstusa. Says CEO ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (hereafter, Ranbaxy), a ... Sankyo), announced on May 22 the actions that ... past conduct under prior management ... continues to support Ranbaxy in its efforts to ... which led to the investigations by the U.S. ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... and REHOVOT, Israel , May 22, ... ), a leading developer and provider of microRNA-based molecular ... , President and Chief Executive Officer of Rosetta Genomics, ... Healthcare Conference taking place from June 3-6, 2013 in ... on Tuesday, June 4 th at 2:00 p.m. ...
Breaking Medicine Technology:Medifirst Solutions, Inc. Announces Update To Shareholders 2Rosetta Genomics to Present at the Jefferies 2013 Healthcare Conference 2Rosetta Genomics to Present at the Jefferies 2013 Healthcare Conference 3
... a national reference laboratory and a worldwide ... ARUP offers an extensive test menu of ... clinical and anatomic pathology. Owned by the ... more than half of the nation's university ...
... ARUP Laboratories is a national reference ... laboratory research and development. ARUP offers an ... unique medical tests in clinical and anatomic ... ARUP Laboratories' clients include more than half ...
... is a national reference laboratory and a ... development. ARUP offers an extensive test menu ... in clinical and anatomic pathology. Owned by ... include more than half of the nation's ...
... national reference laboratory and a worldwide leader ... offers an extensive test menu of highly ... and anatomic pathology. Owned by the University ... than half of the nation's university teaching ...
Medicine Products: