Placebos have been researched and used in research for pharmaceuticals for a very long time. The studies listed below will gradually build into a history of placebo research, allowing you to find out for yourself just how effective placebos can be in many medical situations.

If you find any useful research during your own investigations please send us a link  to the original study where possible, via our contact page.

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2011

A controlled trial of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee

OSTEOARTHRITIS

Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA

A total of 180 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly assigned to receive arthroscopic débridement, arthroscopic lavage, or placebo surgery. Patients in the placebo group received skin incisions and underwent a simulated débridement without insertion of the arthroscope. Patients and assessors of outcome were blinded to the treatment-group assignment. Outcomes were assessed at multiple points over a 24-month period with the use of five self-reported scores--three on scales for pain and two on scales for function--and one objective test of walking and stair climbing. A total of 165 patients completed the trial.

At no point did either of the intervention groups report less pain or better function than the placebo group.

In this controlled trial involving patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, the outcomes after arthroscopic lavage or arthroscopic débridement were no better than those after a placebo procedure.

The Research | Click HERE

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2010

Components of Placebo Effect: Randomised Controlled Trial in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

Ted J. Kaptchuck
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Director of the Harvard-wide Program in Placebo Studies and The Therapeutic Encounter

Lisa Conboy
Clinical Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School

John M. Kelley
Deputy Director of the Program in Placebo Studies & the Therapeutic Encounter, Associate Professor of Psychology at Endicott College, faculty member at Harvard Medical School, licensed clinical psychologist in the Psychiatry Service at Massachusetts General Hospital

Factors contributing to the placebo effect can be progressively combined in a manner resembling a graded dose escalation of component parts. Non specific effects can produce statistically and clinically significant outcomes and the patient practitioner relationship is the most robust component.

The Research | Click HERE

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2009

Direct Evidence for Spinal Cord Involvement in Placebo Analgesia

SPINAL CHORD | PAIN RELIEF

Falk Eippert
Post-doctoral researcher, Oxford University

Jürgen Finsterbusch
University of Hamburg, Department of Systems Neuroscience

Ulrike Bingel
Professor at the Clinic for Neurology at the Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen

Christian Büchel
Head of Junior Research Group (Cognitive Neuroscience) at the Dept. of Neurology, Hamburg University; Full professor for Cognitive Neuroscience; Director Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf

In line with behavioral data that show decreased pain responses under placebo, pain-related activity in the spinal cord is strongly reduced under placebo. These results provide direct evidence for spinal inhibition as one mechanism of placebo analgesia and highlight that psychological factors can act on the earliest stages of pain processing in the central nervous system.

The Research | Click HERE

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2007

Mechanisms of Placebo and Placebo-Related Effects Across Diseases and Treatments

PSYCHOSOCIAL-INDUCED BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES

Fabrizio Benedetti ,Universita di Torino, Dipartmento di Neuroscienze

In recent years, placebo and placebo-related effects have been analyzed with sophisticated biological tools that have uncovered specific mechanisms at both the biochemical and cellular level. This recent research has revealed that these psychosocial-induced biochemical changes in a patient's brain and body in turn may affect the course of a disease and the response to a therapy.

The Research | Click HERE

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2005

Neurobiological Mechanisms of the Placebo Effect

THERE IS NOT A SINGLE PLACEBO EFFECT BUT MANY

Fabrizio Benedetti
Universita di Torino, Dipartmento di Neuroscienze

Helen Mayberg
Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, Emory University

Tor Wager
Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder

Jon-Kar Zubieta
University of Michigan, Psychiatry & Psychology, Neuroscience, Pharmacology

Christian S Stohler
Professor & Dean, Columbia University, College of Dental Medicine

The Journal of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA

The placebo effect is a psychobiological phenomenon that can be attributable to different mechanisms, including expectation of clinical improvement and pavlovian conditioning. Thus, we have to look for different mechanisms in different conditions, because there is not a single placebo effect but many. So far, most of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this complex phenomenon have been studied in the field of pain and analgesia, although recent investigations have successfully been performed in the immune system, motor disorders, and depression. Overall, the placebo effect appears to be a very good model to understand how a complex mental activity, such as expectancy, interacts with different neuronal systems.

The Research | Click HERE

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1996

Harnessing the Power of the Placebo Effect and Renaming It “Remembered Wellness”

ANGINA PECTORIS | BRONCHIAL ASTHMA | HERPES SIMPLEX | DUODENAL ULCER

Herbert Benson, M.D.
Mind/Body Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Richard Friedman, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony brook, New York

The placebo effect yields beneficial clinical results in 60–90% of diseases that include angina pectoris, bronchial asthma, herpes simplex, and duodenal ulcer. Three components bring forth the placebo effect: (a) positive beliefs and expectations on the part of the patient; (b) positive beliefs and expectations on the part of the physician or health care professional; and (c) a good relationship between the two parties. Because of the heavily negative connotations of the very words “placebo effect,” the term should be replaced by “remembered wellness.” Remembered wellness has been one of medicine's most potent assets and it should not be belittled or ridiculed. Unlike most other treatments, it is safe and inexpensive and has withstood the test of time.

The Research | Click HERE

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