The Placebo Effect: Is it All in Your Head?

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Monday, August 17, 2015

Erin Brockmeyer, GoLocalWorcester Natural Health Expert

The term placebo effect is thrown around pretty loosely these days. It has joined the common vernacular, and according to the Urban Dictionary the term is used to mean “mind over matter.” A placebo is any treatment that brings about relief in spite of the fact that it has no known therapeutic effect. A placebo helps you get better because you think you will get better.

Researchers are furiously studying the placebo effect to see if they can predict it, if they can measure its effects on healthcare, on pharmaceuticals, on doctor-patient relationships. They want to quantify it so that parameters can be set up in which it may be used to effect the best possible outcomes without risking the ethics of the patient-practitioner relationship. Until then (and maybe even after they figure it out), here is something to think about:

When a placebo is effective it means that your body healed itself. You don’t just think you are better, you are better. 

This is a pretty astounding thing. Biofeedback, meditation, and relaxation techniques have been used to actually lower blood pressure, benefit asthma, get rid of migraines. It is not difficult to find studies in which pharmaceuticals perform as well as placebo. The human body is powerful and is capable of incredible feats of healing. This should not be dismissed or overlooked. In fact, maybe this is exactly what researchers need to be harnessing.

Instead, researchers often use the term placebo to dismiss therapies as ineffective that are not fully understood, or do not fit into the parameters of the traditional western medical establishment. If researchers have not been able to pinpoint the direct mechanism of a therapy that leads to healing, it is said that it must work because people want to believe it will work. If this were the simple truth, then the same would have to be said about almost half of the drugs on the market. Many of them have listed on their package insert “Mechanism of Action Unknown.” Acetaminophen, a medicine that has been around for ages, has an unknown mechanism of action. Does this mean that you should stop taking it? An unknown mechanism of action does not preclude something from working, nor does it mean that if it does work it is only because you want it to.

Placebo is not the same as positive thinking, which although helpful with making you happy, does not have near the volume of research showing measurable physical effects that placebo does. When you are given a placebo and you get better, you heal because your mind is giving your body the signals it needs to activate biological functions that lead to said healing. Self- healing with no negative side effects.

The question at this point is this: Does it matter? Does it matter if it was placebo that made you better or if it was a medication? It depends on who you ask. Some say it depends more on the motivation. This is where researchers are stuck. The issue that seems to be most often brought up is the possible irresponsibility or ethical dilemmas that arise when doctors use them intentionally. Most people would argue that in order to purposely use placebo, the person supplying it must deceive the patient. There are currently many arguments going on about whether or not this deception, even if done for the patient’s good, risks the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship. 

The placebo is one of the mysteries of medicine. It is a hot issue these days, and has much to teach about the marriage of mind and body. The fact that there are so many mysteries and controversies surrounding placebo effect illustrates that we have much to learn about the human body. 

Erin Brockmeyer, LAc, is owner and acupuncturist at Solstice Natural Health in downtown Portland.  She creates custom health plans for patients to help them tackle their most complicated health concerns, including infertility, prenatal care, fibromyalgia, thyroid conditions and chronic and acute pain conditions.  Visit her website for more information and to download her free e-book 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Health Today.

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