Placebos without the lying: that's what a group of researchers, led by Ted Kaptchuk* at Harvard, were after in a study published at the end of December. The placebo effect is well known for making people feel better when no "real" medicine has been used. It's not a measure of gullibility, but a testament to the body's power of anticipation. Just as you start to salivate before your tasty food reaches your lips, you might start to feel better simply by visiting a doctor.
If placebo weren't a medically powerful effect, trials of new drugs and treatments could just include a no-treatment group, instead of a fake-treatment group. It's assumed that people receiving the placebo treatment will show some improvement, which researchers can then subtract from the observed effect of the real treatment. (Placebo also has a black-sheep cousin called nocebo, which makes people feel worse.)
In a medical study, ...
