> For a drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must prove itself better than a placebo, or fake drug. False, the FDA doesn't actually have any requirement to prove that a treatment is better than placebo. Many trials don't even include a placebo arm, they only compare themselves against existing drugs that were grandfathered into the system without any efficacy testing. Or they compare themselves…
> antidepressants and ADHD drugs on the market even the though research shows they are actually worse than taking no drug at all What do you mean?
The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
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Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
They work the same way that some speaker cables sound so damn great (to whomever paid the $299 for them). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Don't placebos sometimes result in real physical benefits?
Yes. For instance, the person with $300 speaker cables feels good about how they sound and that puts them into a good mood. This is a physical benefit.
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#13> For a drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must prove itself better than a placebo, or fake drug. False, the FDA doesn't actually have any requirement to prove that a treatment is better than placebo. Many trials don't even include a placebo arm, they only compare themselves against existing drugs that were grandfathered into the system without any efficacy testing. Or they compare themselves…
> inert placebos rather than active ones
Isn't "active placebo" a contradiction in terms?
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#14Any idea how placebos work so well, what they are, and if we're doing anything to take advantage of the effect?
There is actually a discipline of medicine dedicated to researching and promoting the use of placebos to cure ailments called homeopathy.
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't placebos sometimes result in real physical benefits?
Yes. For instance, the person with $300 speaker cables feels good about how they sound and that puts them into a good mood. This is a physical benefit.
I'd argue this is a psychological benefit...
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#16I thought that was kind of obvious. A friend of mine who repairs PCs occasionally finds nothing wrong with them and does the usual "I'll run some maintenance on it" and the client is always happier afterwards. He doesn't charge for stuff unless anything needs to be done.
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Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#17> For a drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must prove itself better than a placebo, or fake drug. False, the FDA doesn't actually have any requirement to prove that a treatment is better than placebo. Many trials don't even include a placebo arm, they only compare themselves against existing drugs that were grandfathered into the system without any efficacy testing. Or they compare themselves…
> inert placebos rather than active ones Isn't "active placebo" a contradiction in terms?
No.
Because people know they could be taking a placebo, then having undeniable effect (psychoactive, redness, soreness, etc.) tells them that they are not using the placebo. Conversely, having no undeniable side effects lets them know that they are using the placebo. Thus, placebo usage is undermined.
"Active placebo" has an undeniable effect, but not the compound being tested, so that the test subjects cannot tell if they have the placebo or the real things.
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#18> For a drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must prove itself better than a placebo, or fake drug. False, the FDA doesn't actually have any requirement to prove that a treatment is better than placebo. Many trials don't even include a placebo arm, they only compare themselves against existing drugs that were grandfathered into the system without any efficacy testing. Or they compare themselves…
> inert placebos rather than active ones Isn't "active placebo" a contradiction in terms?
An active placebo replicates some of the side effects but has none of the therapeutic ingredient. This helps with double blinding.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003012...
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#19> For a drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must prove itself better than a placebo, or fake drug. False, the FDA doesn't actually have any requirement to prove that a treatment is better than placebo. Many trials don't even include a placebo arm, they only compare themselves against existing drugs that were grandfathered into the system without any efficacy testing. Or they compare themselves…
> inert placebos rather than active ones Isn't "active placebo" a contradiction in terms?
It sounds crazy, but the idea is that to be an effective placebo, a pill has to produce known side effects of the real drug. So if the real drug is known to produce dry mouth, the placebo will not be simple salt or sugar, it will be a substance that produces dry mouth.
Re: The Placebo Effect Doesn’t Apply Just to Pills
#20> For a drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must prove itself better than a placebo, or fake drug. False, the FDA doesn't actually have any requirement to prove that a treatment is better than placebo. Many trials don't even include a placebo arm, they only compare themselves against existing drugs that were grandfathered into the system without any efficacy testing. Or they compare themselves…
> inert placebos rather than active ones Isn't "active placebo" a contradiction in terms?
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