The Placebo Effect

A Placebo is a know as a pharmacological inert substnce that produces and effect similar to what is expected from a pharacological active substance. Also know as fake surgeries and therapies. H.K. Beecher, a psychologist who studied these placebos, and their effects, wrote even a book called " The Powerful Placebo". he identified that a big percentage of the patients who submitted to placebo surgeries or treatments were satisfactorily relieved from their pains or defects. Although Beechers experiments had many faults. First he did not report all his findings, he only reported the improvements on patients with placebo treatments, but did not report when the patiants deteriorated. He did not report that forty percent of the time that placebos were applied, the patient deteriorated. Later a research group discovered that the placebos used in various experiemtns was no effective at all. They compared two grouos, one that was given placebos, and other that was not given medicine at all, and found out that both groups had the exact same results. I think that placebos may be effective some times but not always, it can depend on the patient. If the patient truly believes he can be healed with this treatment, it may actually work. if a patient has a negative view of his treatment, and believes he has no cure, no placebo will work, and real treatments will still take time to cure them.