Placebos: The Placebo Effect

Anne Elise Nicoladis

Mrs. Perkins

English III

Monday, May 6th 2014

Title

A person’s belief or disbelief in a medication or medical procedures changes the effect of the treatment as exhibited by placebos, which are medical treatments that have no physiological effect. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect. The placebo effect is not merely regression; it is the body’s physical response to the mind. For this mind-body relationship to work to it’s greatest potential, a physician must con their patient’s into believing a prescribed placebo does have a physiological effect. There are respectable laws currently in place that physicians must follow, which state that a physician cannot use deception, and must provide patients with correct medical information. The administration of placebos can be beneficial to patient even though it seems as if dishonesty is necessary from a position where deception is unlawful, but there are ethical methods to use the placebo effect justly, and without wrong doing.

There is not one concrete definition of a placebo. Placebos are fake medical treatments disguised as, for example, as a pill, a shot, ointments, or even fake surgery that is inactive and truly does nothing at all (Moerman). In the past, placebos such as sugar pills or vitamins were prescribed to please a patient requesting medication if the physician did not believe any real treatment was necessary. People in the medical community began to realize that patient’s symptoms were getting significantly better even when there was no chemical, biomedical or time-related reason. This changed physician’s belief that the improvement supposedly caused by a placebo pill was all in their patient’s head to believing that the patients min...

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...is, advice, and treatment.

There are situations in which a seemingly unethical practice can be altered and used equitably. A pure placebo is an inert substance that can cause a real physiological effect. Impure placebos are unrelated and have active quantities, but non-related to the symptoms that need treating. Pure, and impure placebos can cause the placebo effect, which physicians can use to their advantage as long as there is no deception involved. Most important physician’s should never lie to a patient, or cause a nocebo effect by being negative. A physician can tell their patients about the placebo effect, and provide a supportive wholesome environment for their patients. If physicians do this they are following the current laws, and creating a open physician-patient relationship which allows for the most beneficial medical treatment for patients.