Placebos in medicine.

Abstract

Although placebo may be defined as a treatment that does not have a specific effect on the illness for which it is being used, or as an intervention for which there is no scientific theory explaining its mechanism of action, placebo can be an effective therapeutic intervention. Placebo can be administered as a drug or as a procedural intervention. Multiple factors affect the ultimate intensity of the placebo response. One of these factors is the approach taken by the health care provider in administering an intervention. The medical literature is replete with clinical studies showing beneficial results of placebo administration. Physicians should attempt to better understand placebo to harness its beneficial effects, avoid nocebo or negative effects, and maximize the placebo response.