The Powerful Placebo

This is a scholarly examination of the placebo effect. The authors survey the use of placebos from antiquity to modern times, examine the development, use and validity of the double-blind controlled clinical trial, and present their own study of the placebo effect in more than 1000 patients. Until this century, most medications presribed by physicians were pharmacologically inert, if not harmful. Physicians were prescribing placebos or worse without knowing it. In a sense, then, the history of medical treatment until relatively recently is the history of the placebo effect. Based on the authors' lifelong study and clinical research, this is a comprehensive and scholarly examination of the placebo effect. The authors begin by surveying the use of placebos from antiquity to modern times. They also examine the development, use and validity of the double-blind controlled clinical trial. In addition, they present their own study of the placebo effect in more than 1000 patients. Demonstrating both the magnitude and the limitations of the placebo effect, the book helps to clarify issues ranging from the evaluation of therapies to the ethics of conducting controlled studies in which patients are deliberately given placebos.