Judith Shutz

Our perception of how we heal is rapidly changing and may lead to cheaper and less invasive healthcare in the future.

We have long known that placebos can be as effective as full potency medication in a certain percentage of people, but a recent Harvard study entitled "Placebos without Deception" has found that even patients who knew that they were taking a placebo reported improvement in their condition. Even though the pill bottles were clearly labelled "placebo pills" to remind patients of what they were taking, 59 per cent of them reported "adequate relief" from their condition, a percentage similar to patients who would have been taking the approved medication.

It may be significant here that the experimenters told the patients who were to receive the placebos about the efficacy of the placebo effect. In fact they co-opted the participants' minds to help with their own healing: the patients knew that placebos have been proven to work and their minds used that knowledge to make their bodies feel better.