How’s this for a snazzy opening salvo? “The fact that an increasing number of medications are unable to beat sugar pills has thrown the industry into crisis. The stakes could hardly be higher.” If you focused on the words “sugar pills,” you’re on the right track towards solving a big chunk of the current “health care crisis.”
The quote above, courtesy of Wired Magazine, is from an article entitled Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why. And it’s a fun read, indeed. Who knew that a simple (cheap!) hit of fake antidepressant is often as efficacious as the ubiquitous pharmaceutical mind menders? Imagine the savings!
Let’s put a bandage on this blog and end with another spin from Wired’s Steve Silberman – “The placebo response doesn’t care if the catalyst for healing is a triumph of pharmacology, a compassionate therapist, or a syringe of salt water. All it requires is a reasonable expectation of getting better. That’s potent medicine.”
“Pass the sugar, I’m feeling blue.”
posted by Mudd
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