The placebo effect is an unexplained phenomenon in which a person can feel a benefit from an inert, or inactive, drug or sham treatment. Doctors have used the term ‘placebo’ since the 1700s and a placebo is known as a fake drug or treatment that miraculously improves a person’s health symptoms. In order to be convincing, placebos had to mimic the real drug or treatment; so, they took the form of sugar pills, water-filled injections, and even sham surgeries. Soon, doctors realized that tricking people in this way could be used to test and evaluate new drugs and treatments. However, this practice raised ethical concerns, and as a result, placebos are no longer used in this way. The effects of the placebo effect are still not fully understood. Some believe that instead of being real, the placebo effect is confused with other factors, such as patients giving false improvement reports to their doctors in order to gain approval. Others believe that if a person unknowingly took a fake drug, their expectations of recovery trigger physiological factors that end up improving their symptoms. However, we should not be so quick to praise the placebo effect as someone may miss out on drugs, treatments, or therapies that are actually proven to work. Even so, the placebo effect is an interesting occurrence that will continue to remain a mystery to us all.
