Is the Placebo Effect Real?
Despite a recent report questioning whether an inactive medical treatment can cause improvements in patients' symptoms, new research from Canada has suggested that the "placebo effect" is real.
The study found that Parkinson's disease patients who took an inactive placebo pill experienced a substantial increase in the release of a brain chemical called dopamine. The release of dopamine is impaired in people with Parkinson's.
The researchers measured dopamine levels under two different conditions. During one part of the study, patients did not know whether they were taking the Parkinson's drug apomorphine or a placebo.
Dopamine was also measured under normal conditions when patients knew they were not taking a placebo. When patients unknowingly took a placebo, they experienced an increase in dopamine levels similar to that caused by Parkinson's drugs, according to Science (August 10, 2001;293:1164-1166).
Information provided is courtesy of and compiled by the Academy of Anti-Aging Research.
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