im not shure if i spelled it right
2007-01-16 11:20:07 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Placebo means "I shall please" in Latin. It is a pill, usually of plain sugar, which is designed to make you think you are taking medicine so you will accept your body getting better. It's the body that did it, and the mind, not the pill. But some people need to have a pill in order to believe they are going to get better, so the doctor gives them a placebo.
Wonder how that goes on the insurance statement? one tablet whatchamacallit, $5.00.
2007-01-16 11:29:45 · answer #1 · answered by auntb93again 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a controlled reference to compare against. Some of the test group take the real deal, the rest take an inert placebo, comparison is made between the two groups before and after.
Can also mean inert or inactive. "placebo effect" is giving someone a sugar pill and telling them it's medicine and they get better.
2007-01-16 19:28:54 · answer #2 · answered by Al 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A placebo can be a pill that a doctor gives someone and tells them that it will cure their obsessive compulsive disorder (for example) even though it's just a vitamin pill, but the fact that they think it will cure them makes it actually work (i.e. they will not suffer from OCD anymore). The pill would be a placebo, and the fact that it helped them would be the placebo effect. Hope I helped :]
2007-01-16 19:26:45 · answer #3 · answered by cricket 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A placebo is something that is used in controlled tests. It has no effect, but the subjects in the test can't tell the difference between a placebo (dummy substance) and the real thing.
2007-01-16 19:30:27 · answer #4 · answered by Ebony 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Placebo - a pill given to someone or a test group that doesn't actually do anything - it has no useful medicinal content.
2007-01-16 19:25:55 · answer #5 · answered by silligrl357 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a Placebo.
A pill or treatment given to a patient that actually doesn't contain a drug but works to help the patient anyway because they believe it will.
2007-01-16 19:28:28 · answer #6 · answered by flywho 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
placebo is a state of mind where you think a kind of drug works when actually it doesn't (or does very little to alleviate your suffering)
it's kind of like the opposite of hypochondria
2007-01-17 03:55:00 · answer #7 · answered by FolkFolk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its a sugar pill which has absolutely no effect
2007-01-16 19:24:51 · answer #8 · answered by andy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Katherine, here is the whole story!
http://skepdic.com/placebo.html
2007-01-16 19:35:20 · answer #9 · answered by Nikolas S 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, at least I can rhyme it! placebo, gazebo!!
2007-01-16 19:28:03 · answer #10 · answered by spyboylover 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋