Fake pills trigger real reactions

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-21 10:47

It's not all in the mind - the so-called placebo effect is real and reaches right down to the spine, according to German scientists.

This finding may help in the hunt for better ways to tackle pain and other disorders.

Using modern imaging technology the researchers found that simply believing a pain treatment is effective actually dampens pain signaling in a region of the spinal cord called the dorsal horn, suggesting that a powerful biological mechanism is at work.

"It is deeply rooted in very, very early areas of the central nervous system. That definitely speaks for a strong effect," lead researcher Falk Eippert of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf says.

The placebo effect is particularly strong when treating central nervous system conditions, like depression and pain.

Traditionally, experts have viewed the effect as psychological, but the new German research is the latest in a growing body of evidence that there is an important physical component.

Just what turns down pain signaling in the spine when a placebo is given is unclear, although Eippert suspects a range of chemicals, including natural opioids, noradrenaline and serotonin, may be involved.