188 | Real Fake Medicine

Why We Do What We Do · Dec 16, 2020 · 1h 1m

Placebos emerged as a standard pharmaceutical research practice as a way of testing out the efficacy of novel treatments with various illnesses. This made it possible to determine if positive effects could be directly related to the intervention. However, a phenomenon began occurring in which those who were given no direct treatment, but believed they had, began experiencing similar symptoms. Could the body be capable of regulating its own experience with symptoms like pain and discomfort? This led to more recent research into the “placebo effect” in which the positive effects of a drug occur…