Yes, but that’s a big “if” in my opinion. I think research like this wrongly assumes an answer to the question of whether there even is a “placebo effect” to begin with. I don’t think there is enough good evidence right now that can’t be attributed to poor study design, bias, and statistical noise. So many of these studies are done on small samples with self-reporting, non objective measures. It is true that there are some non-physical interventions that can have a physiological response, especially in the perception of pain and I definitely support that effort. If just the activity of seeing a doctor is an effective treatment, I’m all for it, but I don’t think deception should be on the menu.
My comment about alt med was a bit flippant, but I think the placebo is the last bastion of hope for the alternative medicine cause. Over and over their treatments are no better that controls (placebo), so now they claim that placebos are actually effective, so alt treatment must be too! This is a deep logical hole to fall into and really throws all standards of evidence out the window…
I don’t think your comments are harsh at all, so no worries! (hopefully you don’t think mine are either)
