Placebo Effect Video

Placebos

Placebos

More interesting discussion of the placebo effect. Side effects that change with the drug being tested? Here is a good explanation on the possible source:

So, was the "nocebo effect" really making people feel worse? It could well have been, although there are other interpretations. People might just be more willing to report symptoms that they believe are drug side effects. Researchers might be more likely to write them down. And different kinds of people end up in trials of different drugs . . . Nevertheless, there's an important lesson here. Anecdotal evidence about drug's side effects shouldn't be accepted at face value, any more than anecdotes about their benefits. Drugs do, of course, cause adverse effects. But some drugs have worse reputations than they deserve in this regard. In such cases, nocebo effects might account for some of the reported problems.

Assorted Health Econ Links

1. A great graphic showing diseases and their genetic links.

2. The placebo effect. Taking it seriously.

3. Myth or science?

4. Peter Orszag on health care taking lessons the same lessons from psychology as behavioral economics.

5. Even small gains over placebos are important.

6. Is the placebo effect just regression to the mean? We seldom run studies where we compare treatment to placebo AND no treatment.  So it is often hard to identify the placebo effect separately from the natural improvements that can occur over time. Here they look at pain and placebos by eliminating the confounding effects of time.