Comments on: Placebo: Now available in maximum strength

By: kiptw

kiptw — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:03:00 +0000

Unfortunately, somebody beat me to the name Panacebo, so I lost out on that one.

However, I have independently determined a way to make placebos 95% more effective: just add side effects!

By: Anna Maltese

Anna Maltese — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Thank you! And finally – someone posts attribution to back up their points instead of just saying, “Well, I heard somewhere…” or “There’s links out there somewhere that I don’t have my hands on at the moment” or some other lazy way of saying they don’t know what they’re talking about. Sorry. Lengthy rant, there. Just – thank you.

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:54:00 +0000

“In fact, son, your mother and I are pretty sure you were conceived in the year five billion sixty seven A.D. Seeing our bloated sun and charred inner solar system can be pretty sexy.”

By: alex w

alex w — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Panexa.

http://web.archive.org/web/20051225051935/http://www.panexa.com/

By: Rich Keller

Rich Keller — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:25:00 +0000

That isn’t much different than kissing boo-boos. It’s just that you added some cool special effects.

By: howaboutthisdangit

howaboutthisdangit — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:26:00 +0000

There was a mix-up at the factory. You got a real sonic screwdriver.

By: howaboutthisdangit

howaboutthisdangit — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:26:00 +0000

There was a mix-up at the factory. You got a real sonic screwdriver.

By: Upbeat99

Upbeat99 — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:05:00 +0000

Nothing’s better than Placebo!

By: howaboutthisdangit

howaboutthisdangit — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:58:00 +0000

“Note: Not for human consumption.” LOL.

Shouldn’t there be a long list of possible side effects, such as weight gain, tooth decay and diabetes? “If aftertaste persists for more than 4 hours, consult your physician.”

Beware of grey-market placebos, their sugar may not be up to our lofty pharmaceutical standards.

By: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:25:00 +0000

What will you tell them when they start asking questions about where you got it?

“Son, we’re part Time Lord.”

“Well, see, before you came along and ruined everything, your mother and I used to travel through time and space.”

By: Dirac

Dirac — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:09:00 +0000

I use a (replica) sonic screwdriver on my kids – the ultimate placebo, only green photons hitting the affected parts. Works like a charm against growing pains, minor cuts and bruises, sore throat and many other physical ailments. My only fear is that they will beat the crap out of me once they find out it’s fake.

By: pltz

pltz — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:56:00 +0000

This “placebo being effects” is imho the biggest data analysis error, or result misinterpretation, in the history of science.

A certain percentage of people get better with placebos, this is absolutely true, but it is also true that a certain percentage of people get better even when taking absolutely nothing. E.g. last week I had cold, I did not take anything, and today I’m fine, is this not-even-taken-placebo effect?

No! That’s because most diseases are not deadly even if not treated, and even deadly diseases are not a monotonous path of pain toward death. E.g. even if you only have 3 days left of life, it may be that tomorrow you’ll feel better than today, but that’s not placebo effect it’s just random fluctuation of the symptoms and of your own perception of the symptoms and pain endurance.

The perception itself can be modified by a placebo, yet that does not mean that the placebo is improving anything, it’s just making the patient less likely to complain.

There are however a couple of exception: diseases like hypertension which can be worsened by stress and anxiety or psychosomatic manifestations can be actually improved by a placebo, but they are a only a small fraction of possible conditions.

By: robuluz

robuluz — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:51:00 +0000

I’m a little sad that Etsy user spellingmistakes got to this idea before I could start marketing Placebex, as I’ve been threatening to do since approximately 2001. Maybe there’s an intellectual property lawsuit in there someplace. ;)

Or you can just wait out the patent and then mass produce cheap generics in China!

By: regondi

regondi — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:35:00 +0000

There’s also an entertaining chapter in the book “13 Things That Don’t Make Sense” regarding placebo effects and another chapter on why homeopathic treatments cannot be completely dismissed (yet).

By: Roy Trumbull

Roy Trumbull — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:53:00 +0000

Ask your doctor about Foolium.
http://archive.org/details/foolium

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:25:00 +0000

“Max Strength” is just about priceless. What does it mean? “We’ve extracted everything of physiological value better than the competition”?

This is Placebo Brand X – “Does nothing for me, I can taste a bit of medicine in there”.
This is our Placebo Max Strength – “Wow! Now THAT’S a placebo!”

By: shaberon

shaberon — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:55:00 +0000

placebo is love

By: Mantissa128

Mantissa128 — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:44:00 +0000

There’s a pill for that.

By: Mantissa128

Mantissa128 — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:43:00 +0000

I’ve been taking Fukitol every day, for years. Works great.

It’s a suppository, though.

By: teknocholer

teknocholer — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:35:00 +0000

Not one commenter shows any concern about the plight of those of us with placebo allergies. Typical.

By: Hipster in Exile

Hipster in Exile — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:45:00 +0000

There’s actually some really interesting stuff packed into this. I think I once read that red placebos were more “effective” as well. And taking two pills rather than one enhances the “power” of “real” medicine (so many quotes, sooo many quotes). All of which points to the power of cultural symbols to effect physical changes on individuals. And once you start letting that idea into official medicinal doctrine, stuff gets complicated. Super fun!

By: Eark_the_Bunny

Eark_the_Bunny — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:16:00 +0000

Heck these things have been around for a long time. I call them jelly beans.

By: Eark_the_Bunny

Eark_the_Bunny — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:15:00 +0000

“They’re solid plastic, so don’t settle for imitations”

By: Dee Simpki

Dee Simpki — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:14:00 +0000

I find that a couple of Dammatol to be much more effective.

By: Nicholas Darnton

Nicholas Darnton — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:39:00 +0000

Not necessarily. There is evidence (peer-reviewed studies that I can’t lay my hands on right this moment) that having a doctor prescribe a placebo makes it work more effectively. Here “doctor” means (1) a person in a lab coat, (2) in a hospital-like setting, and (3) a man. There are other demonstrated effects too, like larger pills working better than smaller pills and some color-specific effects. The doctor-prescribed placebo is piggybacking on a general belief in modern pharmacology; moving it to an alternative setting is likely to make it less effective. Of course, as attitudes evolve so will the details of maximizing placebo response.

By: Cooper DiBiase

Cooper DiBiase — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Perhaps he assumed the reader would assume the (very) limited effects of placebos and apply it to his note without being prompted?

By: Beryl MacLachlan

Beryl MacLachlan — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:31:00 +0000

When I see someone saying how great the placebo effect is, I have to pull out one or another of my favorite links to Science Based Medicine. This is probably the most appropriate:http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/placebo-is-not-what-you-think-it-is/
Short version: most of the placebo effect is regression to the mean and reporting bias.

By: Grahamers2002

Grahamers2002 — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:28:00 +0000

First you said, “Placebos kick the ass of much of Western pharmacology.”

Then you said, “I’m sure I’m overstating the case….”

You, sir, may collect your “Understatement of the Century” award at the judges’ desk.

By: Grahamers2002

Grahamers2002 — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:26:00 +0000

The comments in this thread represent a huge fraction of what I love about Boing Boing. To riff on the cliche: ”I read Boing Boing for the comments.”

By: AttackHamster

AttackHamster — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:10:00 +0000

I think it is important to define what exactly you mean by the term ‘placebo effect’. I use the term to mean a change in outcome measure following a non-active intervention. There are a host of reasons that changes in outcome can be measured, such as poorly designed studies, experimental bias and publication bias that need to be eliminated before we consider the magical power of mind over body. However, there is indeed a magical placebo effect, but it is small and only affects continuously variable subjective outcome measures, such as how happy somebody feels or how they rate their pain. There is a classic analysis of the placebo effect published in the New England Journal of medicine, and on a scale of 100 (if I recall correctly) the placebo effect could reduce it by up to 6 points. A good cuddle will do the same. There is no placebo effect for objective outcome measures such as recovery from infection or cancer or limb amputation. I think the so-called placebo effect is just a demonstration of how people feel better when they get support and attention – there is no need to dress it up in quackery.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200105243442106