[PEN-L:5447] Re: More placebo

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tom Walker wrote:

> "More telling, translating the mean placebo response effect size of 1.16 in
> a similar way reveals that 88% of patients who received only placebos
> experienced improvement (12% stayed the same or got worse). This is a
> remarkably high percentage and is the basis for Kirsch and Sapirstein's
> conclusion that placebo accounts for 75% of the total response to the
> antidepressant medications. To some, it might appear obvious that the front
> line treatment of choice is placebo, not antidepressants."
>
> regards,

Not too long ago there was an interesting article in the Scientific
American on the placebo effect. The author dealt mostly with the
contradiction involved in lying to a patient, and suggested different
ways of resolving the problem.

Probably the most dramatic and common example of the placebo
effect is in the cure of warts. There must be at least 10 thousand
different cures that work for this virus infection -- and many of them
work even when the "patient" knows they are fake. There must be
very complex relationships between the neuro and immune systems.

I've always been a great believer in the placebo. I'm always happy
if my AD dosage is below the maximum for that particular AD --
the difference, I figure, must have some placebo effect.

Carrol