Posted on 01/29/2015 7:35:53 PM PST by grundle
How do you convert a simple saline solution into a useful treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease? Tell them it’s a drug that costs $100 per dose. And if you want to make it even more effective, tell them it costs $1,500 instead.
That’s what researchers from the University of Cincinnati discovered in an unusual clinical trial. Instead of testing a placebo against an actual drug, they pitted two placebos against each other. The only difference between the two sham treatments was their purported price.
The team from the University of Cincinnati and their colleagues had a hunch that patients would be more responsive to a fake drug they thought was real if it came with a heftier price tag. The higher price would be seen as a signal that the treatment was better, they figured.
So they recruited 12 patients with “moderately advanced” Parkinson’s and asked them to participate in a clinical trial of a medication described as "a new injectable dopamine agonist.” Patients with Parkinson’s lose the brain cells that produce dopamine, and a drug like this could pick up the slack.
The study volunteers were told that there were two versions of the experimental drug and that both were believed to work equally well. The main difference, the story went, was the way they were made. As a result, one version cost 15 times more than the other.
In reality, both placebos were composed of the exact same saline solution. And yet, the patients perceived the expensive version to be more effective than the cheaper one, according to results published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Nothing but the BEST for our Veterans! *SPIT*
That makes me feel much better!
This is how homeopathy works.
This proves that the mind (attitude) has a lot more to do with ‘health’ than we give it credit for. Even though that concept is expressed in the Bible.
I get my placebos at a huge discount directly from the manufacturer.
My placebos leave me with the feeling that something’s missing.
I’ve quit ALL drugs. Well... let me say one thing: I twisted my ankle this morning, and I was in quite a bit of pain... so I went to the doctor, and I asked him to give me some pain pills. And he didn’t want to do it, but I talked him into it. So he gave me some pills — and I shouldn’t have done this, but I took some about an hour before the show tonight, and right now... I am high... as a KITE! [ audience cheers ] I mean, it is unbelievable! And I would NEVER say this to you people, but, in this case: if you EVER get a chance, to take these drugs... DO IT! They’re called... [ he glances from side-to-side cautiously ] Placebos!
-Steve Martin
This proves that with placebos, you really do get what you paid for.
Double the dosage.
LOL!
I’m so poor, that to stretch a prescription, sometimes I just pretend that I took my placebo that day.
My father used to get his placebos for free in a drug trial.
How did he know, you ask? His dosage required him to cut the pill, and it didn’t cut or look like the inside of the real McCoy.
Both groups lied to by “scientists.”
Desperate people, who have a disease for which there is no cure.
Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live:
I’ve quit ALL drugs. Well... let me say one thing: I twisted my ankle this morning, and I was in quite a bit of pain... so I went to the doctor, and I asked him to give me some pain pills. And he didn’t want to do it, but I talked him into it. So he gave me some pills — and I shouldn’t have done this, but I took some about an hour before the show tonight, and right now... I am high... as a KITE! [ audience cheers ] I mean, it is unbelievable! And I would NEVER say this to you people, but, in this case: if you EVER get a chance, to take these drugs... DO IT! They’re called... [ he glances from side-to-side cautiously ] Placebos! I mean, I’m thinking that right now I have NO idea where I am at all! It is WILD! Placebo!
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse
Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
He was great and harmless and we were sort of innocent back then.
This is very funny.
After Obama we’re all going to be so poor we’ll have to take placebos for our placebos.
I’m reading my placebo homeopathy pamphlet as we speak.
I’m going to learn how to stretch a single placebo pill, into a years worth of treatment.
Some of the technical jargon is hard for me to understand, but I think it has something to do with the way that my bartender makes his dry martinis.
He puts the Gin and ice into the shaker, and then passes the closed bottle of Vermouth between the shaker and the lamp (or the window if daytime), it comes out pretty dry, and the Vermouth seems to last forever.
Great, now they will tell us the crazy pharmaceutical prices are for our own good!
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