Placebo effect in everyday life. Placebo effect - self-hypnosis for the sake of treatment

Hello dear readers! Today we will talk about what the placebo effect is, its examples and possibilities of application in medicine, psychology, sports and self-improvement. Remember learning to ride a bike as a child? Do you remember how at that moment you fell and broke your knees, and how then your mother kissed your bruise, said that everything would pass now, and the pain subsided? Why is that? Healing properties kiss or self-hypnosis? This placebo effect is amazing! But what is this effect? And in general, is it really possible to be cured by the power of thought?

This term was discovered at the beginning of the 18th century. But interest in such a phenomenon was really shown during the Second World War, when an American anesthetist saw that an ordinary saline solution (roughly speaking, water with salt) had an effect as an anesthetic and subsequently conducted empirical studies and even wrote papers about it. - Powerful Placebo.

Tell me, have you ever turned to folk healers? Or did you even think about how homeopathy and other alternative medicine work, which promises miracle healing in one session? It's all the same effect! it amazing ability given to a person for self-healing. I would call it our super power. Thought is material and capable of miracles!

One of the most obvious examples of this effect has been familiar to us since childhood. Although the example is from a fairy tale, it illustrates life very well. Read "The Magician" emerald city"? So there Goodwin gave the Scarecrow stuffed with needles straw, and the scarecrow immediately felt sentient. The Tin Woodman was able to love with a piece of silk. And Leo became fearless, thanks to the smelling liquid. Classic placebo effect!

Studies proving placebo efficacy

One such example proving the effectiveness of a placebo: an experiment that was carried out in Germany at the end of the 19th century. In a clinic where tuberculosis patients were treated, doctors made announcements that scientists had found a cure for the disease and promised to provide it within 30 days. It is worth noting that the case was 2 centuries ago and of course, there was no drug then. For two months, patients were stuffed with stories about this miracle drug, but in fact they were given ordinary aspirin, and surprisingly, during this study, 80% were completely cured.

In general, it was previously believed that a placebo removes only the symptoms, but does not cure the disease. But it is not so! In the placebo effect, the same parts of the brain that would have been affected by the drug are triggered. For example, when a painkiller is replaced with a “pacifier,” a patient who is convinced of the effect of the drug begins to produce endorphin, our natural pain reliever.

And in the United States, in general, Obestalp tablets have recently been released, containing only sugar glucose in their composition and intended to “treat children from laziness”. But how the medicine works becomes immediately clear if you read English name drug on the contrary (platsebo).

Who does placebo work on?

Unfortunately, placebos work differently for everyone. The effectiveness of such treatment is influenced by many facts, such as the patient's self-hypnosis, his character, faith in medicine. Suspicious people are much more prone to self-hypnosis. But even if a person has such a strong suggestibility that even a simple kiss on the knee can cure him, then this can also do harm. The placebo has the opposite effect and is called Nocebo.

If a doctor, for example, says that a rash may pop up when taking a medicine, then it will definitely pop up in a suggestible person. Therefore, physicians should consider these factors and for patients who are prone to this mood, select Right words so as not to harm them even more.

One day, a friend of mine told me a story about how her classmate was bitten by a dog, and after reading information on the Internet, she came to the conclusion that she had rabies, just a couple of hours after the bite. Of course, in the clinic it turned out that she had no obvious symptoms, but injections into her stomach were still injected for prevention. This is how the reverse effect of suggestion works - the nocebo.

Taking advantage of the placebo effect

placebo in sports

Have you ever noticed that by believing in victory you achieved really grandiose successes for yourself? Of course, the opposite happens, but the mood is very important.

In any case, almost everyone has experienced this effect! Think not? Do you believe in omens? In sports, in work, in life in the end. Still think not? Often in the same sport there is a sign of wearing happy things - this is the same placebo effect. Wearing some happy thing, a person inspires himself that he will certainly win.

Sometimes coaches give dummy pills to athletes, and they say that this is doping. Indeed, athletes show much better results.

All experiments show not only the effectiveness of placebos, but also the fact that the human mind is capable of amazing things. Thanks to the possibility of consciousness, people can control their lives.

Placebo in psychology

One experiment made it possible to use the placebo effect in psychology. Doctors gathered one hundred and twenty people, one of them they gave an orange pill, which supposedly was supposed to give them a surge of strength, energy and Have a good mood. And to others, on the contrary, blue, which will give them drowsiness, Bad mood and depression. And when patients began to be asked how they were feeling, almost everyone felt what they were told.

This allowed the use of placebos in psychiatry, often doctors instead of antidepressants give patients just ordinary yellow vitamins. Since the placebo subconsciously manifests itself in us not only from the type of pill (what color and shape it is), did you notice? And yet, it turns out that the higher the price of the drug, the more we tend to believe in its effect. This has been proven by experiment. Two different groups of people (who had previously been safely electrocuted) were given identical "pacifiers". Only one group was told that the pill cost ten cents, and the others that it cost two and a half dollars. And people who drank expensive drugs noticed an improvement faster than in the other group.

But what makes this effect unique is that even believing in the placebo effect itself leads to the manifestation of the effect itself. Even if the patient is told that he is being given some kind of ascorbic acid, faith in the power of autosuggestion leads to amazing results. This conclusion was reached after studies conducted at Harvard on 15 patients in 1966.

Placebo in psychosomatics

Many do not know, but psychosomatics studies the occurrence of diseases due to the influence of the human psyche. Indeed, many diseases are due to psychological factors. For example, sometimes chronic back pain is just the effect of suggestion of the psyche. Everything has been fine with the back for a long time, but the pain still lives in the human mind and he feels it physically. This is where a placebo can help! Sometimes in this case, if you convince a person, anything can help him, like a conspiracy, or some ordinary ointment from badger fat for example. The main thing is to convince him of his effectiveness.

How the placebo effect affects people's lives outside of medicine

Have you already realized that your brain is capable of much? He can heal our body, influence the fate and fulfillment of your desires. No wonder many people say that thoughts materialize, if you strongly desire something and think about it, you will get it. But also, if you set yourself up for the bad, then this will most likely become a reality.

Many people think that intuition and placebo are one and the same. The definition of intuition is the feeling of something. I do not believe that intuition is a placebo. Rather, sometimes they can be confused. For example, if you inspired yourself that your wife no longer loves you, and for a long time inspired yourself with this, and then once she stopped loving you, and you decided that it was your intuition that told you, and I am inclined to believe that this is a placebo. You made up your mind and it happened.

The placebo effect can help a person in self-education based on positive self-suggestion. Many believe that it not only has a beneficial effect on health, but also on the course of your life as a whole.

You need to act like this: make a list of positive attitudes that will help you in life and regularly reflect on them. The main thing is to believe that all the things from the list will come true.

If this phenomenon has become interesting to you, then on my own I recommend watching the film "Secret" of 2006 release. The question of the power of human self-conviction is also raised there, but it should be understood that self-hypnosis also has its limits, and the law of karma (the laws of nature and the laws of God) operates in the life of any person. Therefore, a person should not rely on self-hypnosis alone. - dedicated to a separate article on my blog.

This is where I want to end the article, I hope you learned something new and interesting about our capabilities. The main thing is not to allow bad thoughts into your life, only positive ones, and you will immediately notice how your life has improved. Remember that your mind can do more than you imagined. If you liked this article, then subscribe to my updates so that you don’t miss anything, and also recommend my blog to your friends. I would be glad if in the comments below you tell me about how the placebo effect has affected your life.

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"People willingly believe what they want to believe" Gaius Julius Caesar (ancient Roman statesman, dictator, commander).

• Faith can work miracles.
• Faith is a person's confidence in the truth of something (for example, scientific, political, religious and other ideas).
• Faith - it was she who gave birth and gave life to the placebo effect.

In general, as you may have guessed, our dear readers, today we will reveal this mysterious phenomenon (placebo effect). So, let's find out what gave rise to it, who worked on these issues and whether there is any benefit from it at all. So, about everything in order:

Term "placebo effect"(from lat. placebo - getting better) was first introduced by an American doctor Henry Beecher in 1955, although this effect was noticed as early as the 1700s, the real physiological features were only explored in the 1970s.

So, according to studies conducted in the 1970s by a group of scientists led by Stanley Milgram(Professor at Stanford University): “For patients with anxiety disorders, the most effective pills were green, less red, even less yellow. On the contrary, in case of depression, yellow tablets were more effective, green ones were less effective, and red ones were ineffective. And yet, the researchers then could not draw any unambiguous conclusion from the results of their work.

A lot of interesting things about the "placebo" can be gleaned from Dylan Ivans books— researcher from the University of Bath (UK) « placebo. Consciousness takes over matter in modern medicine".

As you already understood, the placebo effect is a very mysterious phenomenon from the field of psychology and physiology, but today it is quite widely known in society, although still little understood.

So, the placebo effect is a phenomenon in which the human body finds ways to get rid of the disease on its own, without the use of effective drugs, but only using their imitators (dummy drugs).

Important! Recovery comes through faith in the effectiveness of the drug used.

AT recent times the placebo effect has become widely practiced in medicine (especially in psychiatry), and so, sometimes doctors purposefully prescribe a placebo certain circle patients (eg. hypochondriacs- people who are overly worried about their health) or people who are excitable, constantly worrying about something. And as a result, suffering from frequent insomnia. And here the most striking thing is that in such cases it is the “dummy” drug, like nothing else, that has the best effect on improving the patient’s condition (the placebo acts on the body, even if the patient knows that it is a placebo), although it seems to be obvious that the positive effect of such a method of treatment should be reduced. But no! Here is such a mystery.

But there is still an answer to it, and it lies in a simple one: here the doctor’s authority plays an important role (does he have the title of “honored”, is he a professor, etc.), also decisive role plays and appearance the tablet itself (its color and shape). In addition to taking drugs, such a positive effect may be the performance of certain exercises that do not give a direct, beneficial effect.

Keep in mind!

1. The placebo effect affects children much more than adults.
2. And in both cases, addiction is possible.
3. The placebo effect is stronger the more expensive the medicine.
4. The strength of the effect depends on the place of residence (and a vivid example of this is the inhabitants of the United States (prone to hypochondria), it is for this reason that vaccination advertising is so widely deployed in this country).
5. Placebo affects differently different people(someone can even provoke an asthma attack, while for someone, on the contrary, it will alleviate suffering).

“The brain itself can make heaven out of hell and hell out of heaven” John Milton (English poet and thinker).

William Osler, one of the greatest doctors in the world, at the beginning of the century confidently stated that the success of a doctor of any specialization largely depends on his character and behavior, as well as on the patient's belief in the effectiveness of the medicine and the omnipotence of the doctor.

Norman Cousins in the bestseller "Anatomy of the disease from the point of view of the patient" in detail (step by step) describes many examples of the effectiveness of the "placebo". He constantly emphasizes that the mental attitude and attitude of the patient to the disease has a huge impact on its course.

Incredible cases of healing

Case 1. Strength of metal spokes. In 1801, the British physician John Haygarth questioned the effectiveness of metal knitting needles, which were extremely popular at that time (they were supposedly made of a special alloy) and, therefore, were endowed with a special magical power that could heal the entire body. Then John Haygarth decides to conduct "his session" of healing - with ordinary wooden sticks, while passing them off as those most popular - miraculous. And what is most interesting: four out of five of his patients have significantly improved their well-being.

Case 2. Operation on the brain. There is another very interesting experiment on this topic: in one of the foreign medical clinics, organized such a test: the first group of people with Parkinson's disease underwent an operation to transplant into the brain of special nerve cells, and the rest of the participants in the experiment were simply told that they also underwent a similar operation, although no surgical interventions were performed on the representatives of the second group. At the same time, a double "blind" control was carried out, that is, neither the patients themselves nor the medical staff knew who the new cells were actually implanted in. And after a year: in both groups, patients began to observe tendencies towards recovery.

Case 3. Painkiller. In 1944 (during the battles for Southern Italy) the American military doctor ran out of painkillers, and in order to somehow calm the aching wound of the soldier, he gave him ordinary water, passing it off as the required medicine, and surprisingly, the pain of the wounded subsided.

Case 4 Cancer can be cured. The last example, no less striking in its strength of faith: one man, aged 61, was diagnosed with cancer (throat cancer). Having learned about his illness, the man lost 44 kg in a short period of time, it became more and more difficult for him to breathe and swallow day by day. The probability of saving a life was 5%. After much deliberation, the doctors nevertheless decide to conduct a course of radiation therapy, under the guidance of Dr. Carl Simonton, who at the same time taught his patient the technique of self-hypnosis - thereby setting him on a direct path to recovery. The man's task was as follows: to tell himself every day that his cancer cells are excreted from the body through the liver and kidneys. The result was amazing - in just two months the man fully regained his weight, strength, and most importantly, the signs of cancer disappeared.

Nocebo "the other side of the coin"

The placebo also has a malicious enemy - it is called "nocebo"- causing only a deterioration in the patient's health. There are many shocking examples (even deaths) of patients, only from the fact that he found out which side effects carries the prescribed drug.

All in all, placebo and nocebo- these are two sides of the same coin, and which of them will manifest itself in each specific case depends not only on the patient's expectations, but in many respects also on the competence (professionalism) of the doctor prescribing these drugs.

There is even an anecdote on this topic:

• Doctor from God
• Doctor "well, with God"
• Doctor "God forbid"

Friends, it is not in vain that people say: "trust, but verify."

Purely my opinion: you can’t blindly believe everything, but you can’t deny a lot. We must try to act rationally in every situation presented by life.

Please leave your comments and feedback in the line below. Everything that worries you, we will definitely cover in the next issues.

In medicine, cases have been recorded when patients recovered due to taking drugs whose effectiveness has not been proven. Moreover, clinical studies confirm that the medicinal value is approaching zero. In this case, there is a placebo effect - curing yourself with almost the power of thought.

Placebo: what is it

Almost two hundred and fifty years ago, doctors described the facts of the recovery of patients after taking substances that are not drugs, but passed off as such.

In simple words we can say that the patient receives a "dummy" that imitates a tablet, capsule, injection. There are no medicinal components in its composition and, logically, it should not “work”. But in reality, it turns out that the patient receives “treatment” and recovers.

The phenomenon was called "placebo" and was subjected to repeated study by psychologists and physicians.

For the purity of the experiment, double-blind studies are often carried out. In the experimental group, the experiment is controlled by neutral scientists. At the same time, neither the patients nor the doctors treating them know which of the patients receives drugs, and which - their imitation.

Example 1 Psychiatry

A doctor in a psychiatric clinic located in one of the cities of the United States treated patients suffering from violent attacks. Their behavior was aggressive life threatening and the health of those around you.

On the early stages most of the clinic's patients were kept in conditions of deprivation of activity - in straitjackets.

The management of the clinic went on an experiment, in which, by prior arrangement, Dr. Medel's patients began to receive a new, hitherto unknown, but very effective medicine. This medicine allowed to stabilize and socialize violent crazy and mentally deranged patients.

Even the doctor himself didn't know who was getting the pills and who was getting the placebo. After some time, the doctor began to notice that the patients became calmer. They show adequate behavior, make contact and violent attacks become rare.

Patients talked, smiled, and the doctor was able to abandon the guard, which he had not parted with before.

Imagine his surprise when he learned the results of the test treatment. None of the insane asylum patients received medication, all took a placebo.

The therapy paid off because neither side of the experiment (neither the doctor nor the patients) knew who was receiving the medicine. Patients believed that a drug had been found that would help overcome their problems. And so it happened.

The doctor wanted with all his might to see the results, changes in the behavior and consciousness of his wards. He really "saw" them, thereby unwittingly influencing the sick.

A drug reserpine entered the history of psychiatry as the most effective placebo capable of treating people with mental disorders.

Example 2 Tuberculosis

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were observed in one of the German clinics. Scientists have not yet invented a medicine capable of defeating the disease, and mortality was extremely high.

Taking a risk, the medical staff informed the patients about the admission to the hospital of a rare, very effective and equally expensive drug that could overcome the disease within a month. The mentioned characteristics of the drug had importance: new, effective, expensive.

Under the guise of know-how, patients received acetylsalicylic acid. But the belief in the effectiveness of a new drug delivered to the hospital specifically for them, potential suicide bombers, made it possible to cure 80% of patients.

Example 3 Pediatrics

In the United States, placebo drugs are widely used in pediatrics. American doctors are deeply and unshakably convinced that children should not be stuffed with medicines unless absolutely necessary.

Not only children, but also their parents often need a "magic" pill. Therefore, drugs of this kind are sold in pharmacies and consist of safe components that are allowed even for small children.

Pills "from laziness", "from fear", from diseases developing against a background of uncertainty, phobias are very popular. What is most surprising is that they bear fruit.

List of drugs considered placebo

The list of drugs marked as "dummy" is quite large. According to the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, about a third of drugs on the modern pharmacological market are “dummy”. Many of them have a high cost and are popular with both doctors and patients.

1. Medicines to improve blood circulation, microcirculation - actovegin, cerebrolysin, solcoseryl;
2. Immunomodulatory drugs;
3. "Heart" drugs - ATP, cocarboxylase, riboxin;
4. and (linex, bifidumbacterin, bifidoc, hilak forte and others);
5. Means for improving cerebral circulation - piracetam, nootropil, tenoten, phenibut, pantogam, aminalon, tanakan, preductal;
6. Mildronate, mexidol;
7. Bioparox;
8. Polyoxidonium, grippol, gromecin;
9. Chondroprotectors - chondrosamine, glucosamine, chondroitin;
10. Valocordin, valoserdin, novopassitis;
11. Antithrombotic drug thrombovazim;
12. Essentiale N, mezim forte.

What enhances the placebo effect

Pharmaceutical companies producing separate groups medicines know the marketing moves. These methods increase not only the popularity (and hence the level of sales) of dummy drugs. They also help patients, despite the absence of the active substance in the composition of the drug:

• Patients like large, brightly colored tablets more than small, faded, colorless ones. Patients subconsciously develop confidence in outwardly visible drugs;
• A pronounced therapeutic effect is manifested in patients after taking drugs from well-known manufacturers compared to modest competitors, even if the composition contains the same active substance;
• Expensive medicines “treat” faster, more efficiently, and there is more confidence in them than in cheap analogues;
• After the end or interruption of the placebo "treatment" course, 5% of patients experience a withdrawal syndrome with pronounced symptoms;
• From 5 to 10% of patients experience the claimed side effects, although there are no substances that can cause them in the medicine;

Placebo has a better effect on people with a labile psyche, anxious, gullible. They consider the doctor to be the last resort and trust him. Such people, extroverts, are easily suggestible. Low self-esteem and a secret readiness for a miracle allow the placebo to "work" in full force.

Patients who are suspicious, suspicious, checking any information “by the tooth”, are less amenable to the influence of a placebo. They do not trust miracles and the charlatans who propagate them. After all, it is the subconscious and the willingness to believe that play a key role in the treatment with pacifiers.

Types of placebo

Placebo treatment is not limited to banal pills with a magical effect. There are several types of placebo:

Preparations

The most popular and extensive group. Under the influence of "powerful" pacifiers, migraines disappear, blood pressure normalizes, bleeding stops, even tumors, including malignant ones, dissolve.

There are many such examples described in the medical literature. In each case, the effectiveness is recorded and cannot be explained only by the impact on the consciousness and subconsciousness.

Imaginary surgical interventions

Surgeons use the placebo effect, replacing the real operation with a sham one, and achieve the same result as with a real intervention.

Surgeon David Callmes has been practicing spinal surgery for many years after severe injuries and fractures. He decided on an experiment, during which some of the patients were actually operated on. The other part was informed about the operation, although in fact there was none.

But what really happened was the reliable preparatory work with patients, the identical surroundings in the operating room.

As a result of a well-played performance, the well-being of patients improved. At the same time, pain disappeared and functions were restored. This means that somewhat different regeneration mechanisms come into play.

Placebo - acupuncture and homeopathy

Instilling faith in the patient in the possibility of getting rid of a serious illness by inserting needles into the skin and taking homeopathic medicines makes it possible to achieve tremendous success in the treatment of mental and somatic diseases.

And yet, how does it work?

In psychology, the placebo effect is used not only to correct personal qualities but also for training and education, development, stabilization at any age. Placebo is based on suggestion. Properly executed suggestion triggers hidden mechanisms in the human body. This allows you to mobilize your own resources and defeat the disease.

Every doctor knows that there are patients for whom outside attention medical worker– already treatment. Suspicious, suggestible people, ready to believe in a magic pill, a unique procedure, rejuvenating apples and living-dead water, easily succumb to the temptation to be cured with the help of a miracle remedy.

Their body produces substances necessary for treatment, rejects pathological cells, promotes tissue regeneration, because the brain, confident in the effectiveness of treatment, gives the necessary commands.

For this category of patients, a good doctor is the one who prescribes drugs, will treat, and will not explain how to do without them. Just in such cases, the placebo contributes to the treatment, does not harm the body, causing, most likely, damage only to the wallet.

It has long been known that faith works miracles. Placebo - belief in the possibility of becoming healthy again despite predictions and possible negative options.

The placebo effect gets its name from the Latin placebo, meaning “to get better, to satisfy.” This effect is quite simple and known to everyone: the patient is given a pill, which supposedly is a medicine, but in fact is a “dummy”. However, the real healing takes place. Miracle! Or human superpowers? Or maybe the diseases were not real? Let's try to figure it out.

History of placebo

The placebo effect has been discovered since ancient times. It was thought to be based on conviction, a belief that can be surprisingly strong. This effect is directed in both directions: a person can both recover, and vice versa, suffer. A similar case is described in the 8th century AD. e. a physician from Vienna named Erich Menninger von Lerhenthal. Several students took a dislike to their friend and decided to play a cruel joke on him. Having caught the unfortunate man, the guys announced that they were going to behead him, showed him an ax, after which they threw a wet rag around his neck. The poor student really died of a broken heart, caused by fear and complete certainty that he would really be beheaded now.

The term "placebo" was introduced in 1955 by military doctor Henry Beecher, and the first studies were forced to be carried out during the Second World War: when the military hospital became short of medicines, desperate doctors began to give patients "pacifiers" for pain - and, surprisingly, they helped.

For many years, this effect has been used in medicine to test new drugs. For the experiment, two groups of patients are recruited, the first group takes the medicine, and the second - a placebo. The effect of the drug must be significantly higher for it to be officially recognized as effective. Only after this pharmaceutical company has the right to bring the drug to the world market.

Homeopathy: legacy of ancient physicians or charlatanism?

Currently, such a branch of medicine as homeopathy is completely based on the placebo effect. In this connection, in many countries, for example, in Spain, they demand to recognize it as an alternative method and excommunicate it from official medicine, that is, to expel homeopaths from hospitals along with acupuncturists, osteopaths and, for some reason, psychoanalysts. Initially, homeopathy was based on astrology and the so-called signature approach: like cures like. Signatures or signs are signs of planets, signs of the Zodiac, as well as elements in plants and minerals. According to the astrological principle, parts of the human body and symptoms of diseases were also divided. Therefore, in reference books on homeopathy, one can find recipes similar to recommendations from medieval grimoires: for example, taking this substance at sunset and only for fair-haired people, small children born in January, not only heals pain, but also tames anger, etc.

In our country, homeopathy lives and thrives, although scandals periodically break out in the media about dummy drugs, the so-called "fuflomycins". One of the most famous drugs of this action, while very expensive, was the famous Oscillococcinum. They were offered to treat not psychosomatic diseases, but a banal cold. The active substance of Oscillococcinum was produced from the liver of a special breed of ducks. Independent studies have confirmed that such a breed of ducks did not exist in nature, and the concentration of the active substance in the drug was less than 1/10,000 of a part, which is almost equal to the absence. That is, we can say with confidence that the drug was an absolute placebo. However, judging by the reviews, many patients really noted the positive effect of this medicine, however, so insignificant that it can be attributed to the body's natural resistance to the disease.

Placebo Facts

The opposite of the placebo effect is the nocebo - this is the case when a dummy drug generates negative effect from acceptance, not positive. "Nocebo" is translated from Latin as "I will hurt." This effect has been noted during drug trials, where patients were warned that side effects might occur. Moreover, these effects were both in those who took a pacifier, and in those who got the real medicine. It was present with and without placebo. The nocebo effect explains all sorts of mysterious epidemics of unknown origin and even diseases that stem from the fear of new technological advances. For example, the so-called "wind turbine syndrome", which struck Canadian citizens living near wind turbines, and manifested as nausea and insomnia. Or "electrosensitivity" - an allergic reaction to calls mobile phones and Wi-Fi networks.

An interesting fact: the effect of "pacifiers" is influenced by such parameters as the color, size, shape and taste of the tablets. For some reason, the sweet-tasting pills were more effective than the tasteless ones. Moreover, warm colors - red, yellow, orange - cause a stimulating effect, and cold ones, on the contrary, suppress. A stronger effect is observed from injections. The manufacturer of the drug also affects: if the patient is aware that he is quite large and famous, faith in the power of the drug increases. Placebos also work differently in different cultures: in Brazil less than in Europe, and from European countries most of all in Germany.

In the 19th century, the Russian therapist Mudrov treated his patients with "author's" powders called "golden", "silver", "simple". In fact, they differed only in the color of the paper in which they were wrapped, and the composition was ordinary chalk. It is not hard to guess that the "golden" powder was the most potent!

The placebo was also found to work even if patients knew they were receiving an empty, neutral tablet.

Placebo experiences

Many scientists have been involved in placebo studies. Its effect was noted in a number of diseases, such as:

• pain syndrome;
• bronchial asthma;
• Parkinson's disease;
• irritable bowel syndrome;
• arterial hypertension;
• cardiac ischemia;
• various mental illnesses.

However, the placebo effect is not as reliable as the effects of conventional drugs. It only causes subjective improvement. However, many of the above diseases affect or are caused by the nervous system or are psychosomatic. Maybe this is the answer?

Thus, the American anesthesiologist Henry Beecher collected data from many years of experiments and confirmed that the placebo effect has a positive effect on 35% of patients.

The most effective effect was on nervous system and mental disorders: Seattle psychiatrist Arif Khan found that placebo was as effective as medication for moderate depression in 52% of patients. In 15% of cases in patients with neuroses, placebos were more effective than real blood pressure and antipsychotics! However, they did not cause side effects, unlike real drugs.

It was also found that a significant influence on the severity of the effect has the conviction of the doctors themselves in the strength of the drug. So, in 1953, the American psychiatrist E. Mendell studied the placebo effect at the St. Elizabeth Hospital near Washington. The patients kept there were extremely aggressive and violent. Some of them received the new drug reserpine, and the other part received a placebo. The doctors themselves did not know what medicine and to whom they give. The effect was very noticeable, and Mendell believed that both the benevolent attitude and the belief in their recovery influenced the patients.

The effect of pacifiers is more pronounced in people of a certain personality type: infantile, emotional, suggestible. Recently, scientists have discovered that there is a special gene responsible for the strength of action.

Mechanism of action and ethical use

Is it really so noticeable effect can be explained by ordinary self-hypnosis? On the this moment There are several theories explaining the effect of neutral drugs.

1. "The reply is in process". When the patient believes in the power of the doctor and the medicine, he attributes his subjective feelings to the action of the pills.
2. Classical conditioned reflex according to Pavlov. The body begins to react already to the very process of receiving and habitually taking the medicine. This theory explains why placebos work in animals too. Although they cannot tell about their subjective feelings, analyzes and observations confirm the therapeutic effect.

It seems that both mechanisms are at work: by doing an MRI of a patient who took a "neutral" pill, scientists found that many areas of the brain are involved and literally "the same molecules begin to move as under the influence of the drug."

Unfortunately, so effective method has its limitations. It does not work for a long time: usually it is only one and a half to two months, so it is not suitable for chronic diseases.

The ethics of using a placebo is still in question. AT certain cases this is justified, for example, when pain relief is needed and real medicine is not available. It is a clear violation of medical ethics to recommend homeopathic medicines when effective conventional medicines are available. An implicit placebo may be used when there is doubt about the effectiveness of the drug. It is ethical to use a placebo in the absence of drugs with proven efficacy, as, for example, with SARS. So the mentioned oscillococcinum, it turns out, does not violate ethical principles - except that it is ruinous for the wallet, but here everyone decides for himself whether to become a victim of marketing. AT Russian culture with pronounced magical thinking, often the use of a placebo is very effective.

Editor: Chekardina Elizaveta Yurievna

List of sources:

• 1. Ludmila Kopets. "Placebo effect". https://psyfactor.org/lib/placebo_effect.htm
• 2. Yaroslav Ashikhmin. "How the Placebo Effect Works". https://psyfactor.org/lib/placebo_effect.htm
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Identified in the middle of the twentieth century by doctors, but in fact, wearing a purely psychological character, The Placebo effect still proves today what possibilities human faith and self-hypnosis allows to discover.

Religion is not the opiate of the people. Religion is a placebo for the people.
Dr. House

Excursion into history

The concept of the "Placebo Effect" appeared in the medical literature in 1955, when the American physician Henry Beecher discovered that some patients begin to feel better by taking drugs that have no medicinal properties at all.

Even during the Second World War, while working as an anesthetist in a military hospital, he noticed that sometimes the effect of saline and a real drug almost coincide. After the war, Henry Beecher began to seriously study this phenomenon, collecting in 1955 the conclusions of his work in the publication "The Powerful Placebo".

The key to this phenomenon is not only the faith of the patient and the attending physician in the power of the drug, but also the faith of the entire staff. In the placebo study, many experiments were conducted, one of which is especially recorded in the history of psychiatry.

In 1953, in one of the psychiatric hospitals near Washington, where residents of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, a group of patients with severe manifestations of aggression was urgently hospitalized. The psychiatrist E. Mendel supervised this group of patients.

The doctor decided to test the new tranquilizer reserpine using a double-blind experiment. Some of the patients gave out a real drug, and some of the usual sweet pills. The doctors themselves did not keep track of which group received which pills. And all the patients were sure that they were taking a tranquilizer.

A few months later, according to the calm behavior of the patients, it became clear that the new remedy was quite productive. A well-known psychiatrist was impressed by the action of reserpine, but it soon became clear that many patients received a placebo.

Soon Mendel realized that the condition of the patients returned to normal only because of his belief in improving the behavior of patients. He began to calmly relate to his wards, and they answered him the same.

Secrets of the placebo effect

One of the secrets of the unique phenomenon is connected with the ability of a person, or rather a patient, to be suggestible and unconsciously trust the attending physician and psychologist.

Through the placebo effect, doctors determine the quality of the drug. If one patient took a placebo and the other a real drug, but the result was about the same, then the drug does not have a sufficient positive effect.

Along with the placebo, another opposite phenomenon is also known in modern medicine - the nocebo effect. It can manifest itself as nausea, allergies, dizziness and increased heart rate in patients taking the "fake medicine". According to strange statistics, the nocebo effect is caused by the nervous staff of the hospital, and by prescribing a medicine to calm the sick, the doctor thereby calms himself.

This phenomenon is called " placebo rebound».

Homeomatic medicines that are popular today are also based on the placebo effect. When talking and simulating the treatment process in this case, all human reserves are connected.

The placebo effect has become a new vector not only in medicine and psychiatry, but also in the development of pharmaceutical products. For example, many drug manufacturers are trying to produce bright large pills, the effect of which is much better than small "nondescript" pills. And patients calmly use drugs of familiar companies, whose names they hear on television, rather than products with the same content, but unknown manufacturers.

Autosuggestion activates the release of endorphin, which sometimes replaces the effect of the drug, and includes a "mobilization function", which implies strengthening the immune system. The strength of the placebo effect depends on the degree of exposure of the person to the influence and the ability to produce the necessary chemicals.

The effect of the placebo effect on different categories of people

For example:

1. In children, the placebo phenomenon is much more pronounced than in adults;
2. The placebo effect is stronger on the emotional and addicted