Getting wise to the real power of placebos

PLACEBO comes from the Latin for “I shall please”. And for people suffering from conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and depression, placebos are very pleasing. After all, wouldn’t everyone want a treatment – be it sugar pill “drug” or sham acupuncture – that made them feel better without producing the side effects associated with active medications? Some side effects in patient information leaflets are scary indeed.

Placebos are, however, less good news for clinical researchers, drug developers and the like, who need to be able to disentangle the physical actions of…