what is the cause of placebo effect?

Answer 1

A guy who calls himself "self deceiver" has to ask the cause of the placebo effect? That's FUNNY!

Answer 2

If something is presented to you and a trusted person declares it to have such and such effect, your belief in what he says will cause that effect to happen (e.g. he might say it will make you depressed)--if your belief is strong enough-- although the affect of placebo varies depending on what the 'actual' effect is supposed to be, i.e if it says your bones will break spontaneously, they most likely will not, however much you may believe they will.

I suppose the REASON why belief is so strong is that in being convinced of X event, we essentially instruct our subconscious brain that this is what will happen so our belief takes the form of an order. Possibly the reason placebo has been known to aid the defeat of disease/viruses is that the body is galvanized by the brain into putting up an extra strong defence and, vice versa, if a person believes she is overcome by a virus then her body will essentially give up, again on the orders of the subconscious as instructed by the conscious.

There is some debate concerning the legitimacy of modern medicine for we all BELIEVE it will work; whether or not the chemicals or our belief cure us (e.g. sleepeaze etc.) is not always clear.


EDIT: phlada64 rather missed the point when he/she said he wanted to order a placebo. If you KNOW it's a placebo why on earth would you use it?

Answer 3

It's a combination of the brain thinking it really is getting whatever medication is supposed to have been used and the relaxation your whole body feels. If your barin tells the body it's going to feel relief, very frequently it will, without benefit of the actual med. I've been a medication nurse for 33 years and have used placebos over the years. It's always amazing to see the results of giving a sugar pill or a normal saline injection. There have been many times when I wanted to use a placebo, but they have to be ordered by a doctor.

Answer 4

doctors will run test on a group of people for lets say depression. they will give 5 people anti depressants and the other 5 sugar pills ( placebos). the point is to see if the people given the sugar pills have the problem all in their head u can say. usually about 4/5 of the test subjects given the placebo report they didnt feel as depressed. they even do placebo operations and people will think they have a life changing operation and feel better. the cause is peoples brains beign tricked pretty much

Answer 5

I'm Not Sure of it's Basis, but Suspect Magical Thinking.

You Might Find this of Interest:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A42930-2002May6?language=printer
Against Depression, a Sugar Pill Is Hard to Beat

Placebos Improve Mood, Change Brain Chemistry in Majority of Trials of Antidepressants

By Shankar Vedantam

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 7, 2002; Page A01

After thousands of studies, hundreds of millions of prescriptions and tens of billions of dollars in sales, two things are certain about pills that treat depression: Antidepressants like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft work. And so do sugar pills.

A new analysis has found that in the majority of trials conducted by drug companies in recent decades, sugar pills have done as well as -- or better than -- antidepressants. Companies have had to conduct numerous trials to get two that show a positive result, which is the Food and Drug Administration's minimum for approval.

What's more, the sugar pills, or placebos, cause profound changes in the same areas of the brain affected by the medicines, according to research published last week. One researcher has ruefully concluded that a higher percentage of depressed patients get better on placebos today than 20 years ago.

Placebos -- or dud pills -- have long been used to help scientists separate the "real" effectiveness of medicines from the "illusory" feelings of patients. The placebo effect -- the phenomenon of patients feeling better after they've been treated with dud pills -- is seen throughout the field of medicine. But new research suggests that the placebo may play an extraordinary role in the treatment of depression -- where how people feel spells the difference between sickness and health.

The new research may shed light on findings such as those from a trial last month that compared the herbal remedy St. John's wort against Zoloft. St. John's wort fully cured 24 percent of the depressed people who received it, and Zoloft cured 25 percent -- but the placebo fully cured 32 percent.

The confounding and controversial findings do not mean that antidepressants do not work. But clinicians and researchers say the results do suggest that Americans may be overestimating the power of the drugs, and that the medicines' greatest benefits may come from the care and concern shown to patients during a clinical trial -- a context that does not exist for millions of patients using the drugs in the real world.

"The drugs work, and I prescribe them, but they are not what they are cracked up to be," said Wayne Blackmon, a Washington psychiatrist whose practice largely comprises patients who suffer from depression. "I know from clinical experience the drugs alone don't do the job."

Answer 6

The value of Suggestion, by putting an idea into someones mind.

A placebo, as used in research, is an inactive substance or procedure used as a control in an experiment. A placebo effect occurs when the placebo, which cannot on its own merit have any affect, does in fact have the same or similar affect as the experimental substance or procedure.

Answer 7

There is really no "cause". The human mind is complex. Believing something will work sometimes causes you to perceive that it actually does work. For example...taking a sugar pill that your doctor told you was a high powered drug to cure depression may actually make you happier. Just because you believe the pill will cure you. The placebo effect is something that psychologists have to look out for and sometimes its actual the cure that we are looking for.

Answer 8

I never get sick. Ever. And it's because I don't let my body think it can get sick.

I don't recall what studies looked into this, but the theory is basically that your body has its own internal pharmacy which is linked to your state of mind. When your immune system is attacked the pharmacy in your body releases the correct....antibody...is that the right word? Anyway, your immune system goes on the defensive if the pharmacy is working correctly.

If you're depressed or have a bad state of mind than its been shown that your internal pharmacy doesn't respond as quickly or as well.

So, the placebo effect is caused because your mind is sure of something, thereby giving this internal pharmacy of yours the boost it needs to perform correctly.

Or so I've read...

Answer 9

this takes place when the person who receives the placebo thinks its the real deal instead of a fake

Answer 10

The mind has the ability to treat or cure many conditions that plague the body, but sometimes it just needs to be "tricked" into doing so. Studies have shown that just thinking about a part of your body can cause changes to it. The mind can't do everything, but it can do a lot more than we think (no pun intended).