Placebo

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Cannabis For Pain Relief? Review of 20 Studies Provides Sobering Results 12/01/2022	There are numerous examples of the relationship between treatment expectations and placebo responses. If a person thinks they will experience relief from their pain by using a certain product or treatment, this can change the way they end up perceiving incoming pain signals – making them think their pain is less severe. Recent evidence suggests that the placebo effect may work even if we're presented with evidence that contradicts our initial expectations. We cannot say with 100 percent certainty that media coverage is responsible for the high placebo response observed in our review. But given placebos were shown to be just as good as cannabis for managing pain, our results show just how important it is to think about the placebo effect and how it can be influenced by external factors – such as media coverage. study, Placebo, sciencealert
Placebo Response and Media Attention in Randomized Clinical Trials Assessing Cannabis-Based Therapies for Pain 11/16/2022	Findings This meta-analysis of 20 studies of 1459 individuals found a significant pain reduction in response to placebo in cannabinoid randomized clinical trials. Media attention was proportionally high, with a strong positive bias, yet not associated with the clinical outcomes. Meaning These findings suggest that placebo has a significant association with pain reduction as seen in cannabinoid clinical trials, and the positive media attention may shape placebo responses in future trials. Placebo, meta-analysis, JAMA, 2023 Presentation Dr Berry, study, Research
Medical Marijuana for Pain: What the Evidence Shows 08/19/2015	Twenty-eight studies were undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of cannabinoids for chronic pain. Of these, only 2 were found to be at low risk of bias. Overall, these studies seem to indicate that cannabinoids have a significant role to play in the management of chronic pain. However, there are important issues that limit the validity of this conclusion. First and most important is how the improvement in pain was evaluated. In many of the studies, only instruments to measure the level of pain, most notably the Visual Analogue Scale, were used. This is fine when one is measuring acute pain. But when it comes to chronic pain—which is what the studies were looking at—the most important measures of the impact of any treatment are improvement in functioning and other objective measures, such as reduction in use of analgesic medications. meta-analysis, Studies, Placebo, pain
Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind 07/29/2015	Mr. Wright was confident that a new anticancer drug called Krebiozen would cure him. Mr. Wright’s tumors had shrunk by half, and after 10 more days of treatment he was discharged from the hospital. And yet the other patients in the hospital who had received Krebiozen showed no improvement. Placebo
American Cancer Society- What is the placebo effect? 04/10/2015	Even though they don’t act on the disease, placebos affect how some people feel. This happens in up to 1 of 3 people. A change in a person’s symptoms as a result of getting a placebo is called the placebo effect. Usually the term “placebo effect” speaks to the helpful effects a placebo has in relieving symptoms. This effect usually lasts only a short time. It’s thought to have something to do with the body’s natural chemical ability to briefly relieve pain and certain other symptoms. American Cancer Society, Placebo
Putting the placebo effect to work 04/01/2012	Harvard, Placebo