Placebos also help with conscious intake

Efficacy of mock drugs higher when patients are informed

09/01/2014

Medicines that contain no active substance - so-called „placebos“ - may actually be effective in some clinical pictures such as migraine or irritable bowel syndrome. However, the efficacy increases significantly when patients are informed that they only „translucent drugs“ receive. Scientists at Harvard University's Boston Medical School have come to this conclusion. Thus, in addition to the belief in the effectiveness and the process of taking the „drug“ even favor the recovery of the patient.

Placebos can relieve discomfort in migraine
Medicines without effective drug? What sounds strange, however, seems in some cases actually to have a positive effect on the recovery of patients. As scientists from the medical faculty of Harvard University in Boston have now found out, the so-called „placebos“ (Latin: „I will like it“), for example, in migraine seem to alleviate symptoms - provided that the parties know that they are „placebo“ to get.

US researchers treat 66 people in 459 migraine attacks
For their study, the research team had around the neurologist Dr. Slavenka Kam-Hansen 66 people who suffer from migraine, treated in a total of 459 migraine attacks. The patients received after a first attack without treatment, which served as control, six further migraine attacks either a placebo or the migraine Mitel „Maxalt“ with 10 mg of the drug „rizatriptan“. When administered, patients were informed in different ways about the remedy - they either knew they were taking a placebo or a placebo „real“ Had received medication or they remained in the dark.

Positive effect also if patients were informed
As expected, the placebos showed in the patients who assumed they were one „real“ Drug had actually taken. But even those who were aware of having received a placebo showed a positive effect: „The efficacy of the open labeled placebo was greater than if no treatment had occurred. Compared to no treatment, placebo, regardless of how patients were informed, accounted for more than 50% of the medical effect. This positive effect will persist even if the patients were honestly informed about the placebo“, the scientists in the abstract of their study in the journal "Science Translational Medicine".

„Ritual of taking pills important part of the treatment“
For the researchers, the results thus support the thesis that not only the belief in the effectiveness of a drug can alleviate the symptoms of migraine patients: „Regardless of whether medications or placebos are used during therapy, information for patients and the ritual of taking pills are important components of the treatment“, the researchers continue.

Placebos also effective in irritable bowel syndrome
Also with the so-called „Irritable Bowel Syndrome“ Studies by US scientists in recent years had already shown that an openly communicated administration of placebos could have a positive effect. For the director of the Pain Clinic of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Essen, Ulrike Bingel, this could possibly be due to the learned experience that drugs usually help. Therefore, by taking in itself a positive feeling would arise, because this is one „learned, involuntary, reflexive process ", says Ulrike Bingel. (nr)

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