|
This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.
Placebo is a Latin word. It
means "I shall please". And sometimes it just might. When scientists want
to test a new drug, they usually divide a large number of people into two
groups. One group takes the medicine, the other takes a substance known as
a placebo. It may contain nothing more than sugar. The people do not know
which pill they are taking, the active one or the inactive one.In this
kind of experiment, the medicine must perform better than the placebo to
prove it is effective.
Yet, people who take a placebo, sometimes experience improvements in
their health. This is known as "the placebo effect" -The effect of
something that is not supposed to have any effect.
Some doctors even use the placebo effect in their treatments. They
might tell patients that a new drug will stop their pain. The patient does
not know that the pills are inactive. The patient takes the pills and
later tells the doctor that the pain is gone.
Now research in Sweden suggests that placebo treatments can also reduce
the emotional effects of unpleasant experiences. The effects in the brain
were similar to those seem when placebos have been used to ease pain. The
researchers say that in both cases expectations of improvement are a major
influence on the effectiveness of placebos. The new study involved a group
of people who looked at unpleasant pictures, such as images of dead
bodies. Predrag Petrovic of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm led the
study. The findings appeared in the publication Neuron.
An influential study on placebos appeared in 1955. It said treatment
with a placebo made patients feel better 35% of the time. But in 2001,
Danish researchers reported that they had examined more than 100 studies.
They found little evidence of healing as a result of placebos.
Some researchers think a good relationship between a doctor and patient
can increase the effectiveness of real medicines. In any case, some
medical researchers are against the use of placebos. They think it is
wrong to give some people inactive substances when testing new medicines.
They say it would be better to compare new drugs to existing drugs. That
way, a study would show if the new drug is more effective.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy
Steinbach.Our reports are on the web at voaspecialenglish.com. This is
Gwen Outen. | 
