Zusammenfassung der Ressource
The Placebo effect
- physchology behind it
- a placebo causes the release of dopamine
just like a normal drug would
- the expectations of pain relief causes
the brain to produce and natural
painkiller (of opioids)
- starts off with being
psychological - if person
knew they were just taking
a sugar pill then the
biology behind the placebo
effect wouldn't occur
- Biology behind it
- hormone responses
- the release of endorphins - similar
structure to morphine.
- the brains natural painkiller
- reversing the placebo effect
(antagonising)
- naloxone - an opioid antagonist which can
block the placebo effect
- it's supposed to be a psychological effect
so how comes you can take a drug that
blocks it?
- the pain reduction responses in the brain
casued by the placebo effect are reduced
- 'you are the placebo effect' book
- can't actually cure you - not going to reduce amount of
cholestoral in your blood etc, just makes you feel better
- can actually make you perform better in
terms of sport
- effect on body vs effect on head
- Nocebo effect
- when people are told at a clinical trial the possible side effects
they may experience, people only taking the placebo often feel
the side effects too
- 25% of patients experience symptoms
- reports of fatigue, sickness, dizziness, loss of memory etc, when only taken a
sugar pill and there is no way the drug has casued these symptoms
- a voodoo curse - victim may die due to
the belief in the curse even though
there's nothing there
- superstition
- if you don't do what you believe you should do
then you experience the placebo effect (you
believe something bad will happen so it does)
- however, the world around isn't changing - is the reason someone experiences
bad luck when they believe they will because they notice this things more
readily (and associate it with the thing that happened to give them bad luck)?
- optimising the placebo effect
- some work better than others
- red work better than white
- red also better at treating pain
- blue better at treating mental health - anxiety
- capsules better than tablets
- the greater the pain then the greater the placebo
effect
- more expensive tablets work better
- placebo effect in animals
- If the placebo effect is just psychological, how come it also works in
animals?
- Dogs and mice
- due to the owners?
- homeopathy
- The way in which some people
believe the more you dilute a
drug, the greater its powers to
treat symptoms
- Is it anything other than just the
placebo effect?
- NHS England
recommended GPs
should stop providing it
- Should homeopathy be
funded by the NHS
- Should packets include side effects - this may
just increase the chance of the nocebo effect?
- possible experiment?
- could do an experiment with caffienated coffee
and decaffinated coffee
- pulse rate increasing?
- concentration/accuracy levels change?
- use in medical research
- used to determine whether or not the
new treatment actually has a real
effect and that it's not just the placebo
effect (clinical trials)
- should it be used to treat pain?
- Ethics
- Is the fact that patients are
being lied to an issue?
- Cheaper than normal
medication, still feel
better