Skip to main content

Placebo Effect

 

The placebo effect is a phenomenon whereby drugs and medication, that have little to no effect on the injury of the patient, miraculously made someone feel as though they have been healed. 


The placebo effect is extremely useful in clinical trials. Doctors and researchers have realised that they could test and evaluate the efficacy of a new drug. Typically, one half of the patients will be administered the actual drug and the other, the placebo. If the new drug has shown a significant difference compared to the placebo, it would have been proven effective. 


Nowadays, ethical concerns have been raised for administering “dud” medications for patients. However, a placebo is still useful in acting as a control to determine an older version of a drug relative to newer variations. 

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z03FQGlGgo0

https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kidney Stones

Renal calculi, or kidney stones is the formation of crystals in the kidneys causing excretory issues. These stones mainly form in the renal pelvis or the ureter in the kidney. It is accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and a burning sensation when urinating  Urine consists of salts and various compounds such as Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Oxalate, Phosphate and Uric acid. Calcium oxalate is the most common stone formed in the kidneys, it accounts for 80% of kidney stones The crystals can scratch the walls of the urinary tract, sending nerve impulses to the brain causing excruciating abdominal pain. The scratches also cause blood vessels embedded behind the walls to burst, causing blood to enter the urinary system. This causes the patient to urinate blood. IF the stone is big enough to cause a blockage in the urinary tract, this can create a backflow of urine and infect the kidneys itselves. However, most kidney stones do not grow large enough to cause a blockage. This w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects one’s movements. Parkinson’s disease signs and symptoms are different for every individual and may go unnoticed in the early stage. Symptoms typically start on one side of the body and remain worse on that side even after the symptoms begin appearing in both sides of the body.  Generally, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements such as blinking or swinging of arms when walking, and speech and writing changes.  Parkinson’s disease occurs when neurons in an area of the brain that controls movement becomes impaired or dies. These neurons normally produce dopamine. As more neurons become impaired or die, the amount of dopamine produced in the body is reduced significantly, causing the movement problems associated with Parkinson’s disease.  People with Parkinson’s also lose the nerve endings that produc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Horner’s Syndrome

Horner’s syndrome is a condition where the sympathetic nerves on the face are damaged. 3 classic signs of Horner’s syndrome include miosis (constriction of the pupil), ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid) and anhidrosis (absence of sweating of the face). It is a result of other medical problems such as stroke, tumor or spinal cord injury. Hence, treatment for the underlying issue may restore nerve function. The nerve pathway affected in Horner’s syndrome is divided into three groups of neurons called the first, second and third order neurons. These neurons lead from the hypothalamus of the brain through the spinal cord and finally along the facial skin and muscles of the iris and eyelids  Sources: https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6670/ horners-syndrome
Post a Comment
Read more