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Week 3 [22-28.10.18] How The Placebo Effect Tricks Your Brain


Almost everyone has heard about the Placebo effect, but do you know how it works and why is it getting more effective in relation to real drugs? This video will answer these questions and provide you with interesting facts of that phenomenon.


Questions
1. Have you ever experienced placebo effect?
2. Do you experience worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past?
3. Do you think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge?

Comments

Wojtek Protasik said…
Considering it's been a while since I visited a doctor I don't remember. Of course there is a slight chance I was not informed I was given placebo drugs but it's close to zero.

Drugs work as they worked. The other thing is I just don't use them.

It's a tricky question. If there are no drugs to cure someone and it might help, then why not. On the other hand the patient should be aware of all that's going on and placebo means a lying. As far as I know the general principle says not to hurt, so as far as they stick to that I wouldn't mind.
Foodocado said…
I do not think so, but I might be wrong.

Drugs work the same as in the past. Our organism gets used to it and as the resulting effect, the effectiveness of them is worse. I might be wrong...

I have no problem with curing people with placebo drugs, as long as patients don't have to pay for them.
Bartosz Barnat said…
To be honest I don't know if I experienced plocebo effect because I could take a pill and it helped me but I didn't eve know it was a real drug.

I didn't take any drugs, pills or cure for almost 3 years from now so I must say my health is in good conditcion and it was worse in the past. I don't know why it is like that but I guess it has something to do with our mood and hapiness

I think every patient should have awarness of what is going no matter if it is in a hospital or at work or somewhere else because it's our life and we should determine what we want to do.
I've got such a good experience one year ago. Unfortunately, i don't remember details, where and when it happened, but i've got a terrible headache for some days and i took a pill, that was a medical chulk and it helped me. I would say more, that healthcare departments are already using placebo effect for a huge amount of patients. Don't know about Europe, but in USA it definitely works.
Marcin Mróz said…
I'm not sure, but I guess that it's possible. Definitely I wasn't concious about it. After all, if it was a placebo effect, how would I know? ;) If you mean a situation when doctor tells me that the pills I was taking were fake, then no.
I didn't notice anything like that.
In my opinion it could include this effect without patient knowledge, because as far as something helps, then it shouldn't matter what really did the job - our brain or some specific drugs' ingredients.
Unknown said…
1. No, I usually take medicine only if I am really bad, vitamins cannot help with a serious problem.
2. No, I think that their composition does not change, and my body does not have time to get used to not perceive their action.
3. Perhaps, I believe that with some diagnoses, in which the cause is often psychological, you need to be treated with the same method.
Filip Sawicki said…
Yes, it is rather impossible that you have received placebo treatment, because that would be against the law. Doctors are obliged to treat you with real drugs. I am also quite surprised that you don’t use any drugs at all, is it because you are that healthy or prefer natural treatments?
Filip Sawicki said…
It is hard to notice the placebo effect on your own. You would have to really carefully monitor your body reaction and later somehow validate drug ingredients to be truly sure. I agree with your statement that drugs work as effective now as in the past, until now I haven’t noticed any change. Regarding the treatment with placebo, why wouldn’t patients have to pay? This would be obvious for them that they are not receiving real drugs and thus resulting in no effects whatsoever.
Filip Sawicki said…
You must be really healthy then if you don’t take any drugs. It makes me pretty jealous, because I’m always ill in autumn. I don’t know why but my immune system just can’t deal with the flu in that period, despite the fact that I really care about my health.
Filip Sawicki said…
I haven’t experienced placebo effect but it is nice to see that you have. I imagine that you must have felt pretty weird after told that the pill you took was just a medical chalk. I didn’t know that US actually does placebo treatments. I guess that in Europe that is banned or at least heavily regulated to ensure patients safety.
Filip Sawicki said…
Don’t you think that patients should be informed about placebo treatment? Otherwise what is your certainty that the drug what you consume is real or not, wouldn’t you be concerned about that? Also if you’d know that there is possibility of receiving “fake” pill then both placebo and real drug effectiveness would decrease.
I believe I never got an placebo drug but I may be wrong and I actually was feeling better after fake drug.

I havent experience any efectivness loses when it comes to drugs. I usually use the same ones when I get sick cause I know they helped me before nad I guess they will cure me again. Maybe thats placebo effect though?

I think if doctor believe that this type of fake treatment will work why shouldnt we give it a go? As long as it doesnt hurt anyone and do not have bad impact on someones health - I wont mind.
I have no experienced placebo effect first of all because I don't use medicament in most cases. For example when I'm feeling that my head has very strong pain I don't take drug to fight with this because I believe that my body must fight with this symptoms alone and only in very emergency situations I can start use drugs but in minimal dozes because I still believe that organism just need a little help to fight with some weakness and in main part it still must fight alone with all of diseases.
I think, no one don't know it exactly and I'm including. I'm not use drugs often and that's why I can't answer worse or better effectiveness of drugs. It's very difficult question, how said Joseph new medicine need to test against to placebo before companies can sell it. And for some people it could be a real chance to defeat for example cancer, but if person gets into the placebo group, he's probably got less of a chance. And because of that I think that healthcare should tell people about that, but the results of the research may change.
Nataliya Tkach said…
Recently, the placebo effect has become widely practiced in medicine, especially in psychiatry, and so, sometimes doctors purposefully prescribe a placebo to a certain circle of patients or to people who are excitable and constantly worried about something. And as a result, suffering from frequent insomnia. And here the most striking thing is that in such cases it is the “dummy” drug that is like nothing else, it works best on improving the patient’s condition (the placebo affects the body, even if the patient knows that it is a placebo), although it seems to be obvious that the positive effect of this method of treatment should be reduced. But no! Here is a mystery.

But the answer is still there, and it lies in the simple: here the authority of the doctor plays an important role, the appearance of the tablet itself (its color and shape) also plays a decisive role. In addition to taking drugs, such a positive effect can be the performance of certain exercises that do not give a direct, beneficial effect
Unknown said…
I have certainly experienced it, but I can not remember it. I think that in every family, when the child does not hurt too much, but starts to cry, the parent walks up and kisses the wound or glues the patch and suddenly the pain goes away. I think it works in a very similar way to a placebo.
I think the drugs are just as effective as they used to be. More tiring is that it is very much the same drugs, differing only in name.
I think that if the placebo treatment is effective, you can use it, but only in the case of not very serious diseases. The placebo effect may not work for everyone and not every illness can be eliminated in this way. In addition, the patient must believe in the action of the drug. I personally check the effects of the drug I take. In that case, someone would have to replace my tablets with other ones, and that's beyond the tiny lie.
Unknown said…
My mum always tells me that all our problems, including problems with health, come out of our mind. And, as we can see, the treatment comes from the same place. I haven't experienced placebo effect personally. Or maybe I have and it worked, guess, I'll never know that.

Drugs are drugs, can't say anything about it, really. Although, I don't take many of them on the daily basis.

Maybe in such cases like hypochondria or other psychological dysfunctions you can make a use of placebo, but I don't think that it is wise to use it in regular medicine. The stakes are often to high to try your chances.
Unknown said…
Frankly speaking I have no idea. I think I've never experienced placebo effect but who knows.

Actually I try to not use drugs at all but there are situations when there is no choice. Taking in consideration all my experience not using drugs when you fill ill is bad idea. I had lots of situations when I should have been taking drugs in order to treat myself but because of my self confidence(or whatever it is) I haven’t. In the consequence every single time the situation became only worse. Coming back to your question, I’ve experienced worse effectiveness of NOT using drugs.

Yes, I think healthcare should include placebo treatment but patient’s relatives should be informed about it. If there is no choice such kind of treatment may give a result, at least I hope so. Anyways, it’s better than nothing.
Artem Lipovatyi said…
1. No, as far as I know.
2. It depends on what drugs to buy. Fortunately, I use them only when absolutely necessary, so I cannot compare their effectiveness very good, but I can say that drugs always help me.
3. More likely no than yes. Since this may not help in all situations. For example, if time is important, you should not spend it on a placebo, but immediately resort to the usual methods of treatment or it can lead even to death.
With a pharmaceutical system being prone to corruption like anyother huge industry i think that i have taken placebo more than once thinking that i get a real drugs. Nowadays i almost never get ill, and take medications only if i feel that i cannot deal with an illness by my own. I cannot judge the effectiveness of drugs in past/present context because i kinda almost don't get em anymore. I think that healthcare should be as transparent and understandable to patient as possible, because letting someone or something to treat your body with possible negative outcomes of carelessness is not a joke, and nothing should be kept secret from patient.
Unknown said…
One of the most prominent of my memory when I played with my friends as a child. That summer evening we played football and one of my friend hit the ball too hard so I had to go and get it. It was kind of dark and I couldn't see well and twist my ancle and fall on my knee but I was in a hurry so just got up and run back on the field. On my back home with my mother she asked me what's happend with my knee and the moment I looked at it and saw blood I felt pain for the first time. That was kind f funny from the perspective of my mom but kind of scarry for me. So yeah our minds is much more powerful then we used to belive.
Unknown said…
1. Yes. Yes, I have.
Each time I feel sick, I just do not think about it. It usually goes away after a few hours.

2. I have never thought about drugs in a way that they healed everything once you swallow them. So I have no comments.

3. Yes. Yes, I do.
Just remember any situations where friends need for your kind words. It is the same principle with patients, they want to hear what will help them and believe in words that a doctor says about their disease.
Unknown said…
I have never experienced the placebo effect, but I saw it in some movies and it was really interesting to see other people experiencing it.
I haven't noticed worse effectiveness of drugs on myself, but maybe I am not so perceptive to spot that.
I think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge because it is much cheaper and sometimes it can be as efficient as normal treatment.
I have never experienced placebo effect, or at least I am not aware of it. However I have seen situations that seems to prove that our attitude and way of thinking can influence our bodies. When my sister was in elementary school, she felt sick one day. Normally it would take several days to restore for her to restore to full health, but she somehow get better next day. The reason was, probably, that she had a birthday part the next day, and she looking very forward to it. My sister always was very enthusiastic about every thing, so she just decided then that she will get better in order to go to day party. It is not exactly placebo effect, but it is quite similar, she was able, just with proper attitude, to force her body into fight with disease.
Personally, I am rarely use any drugs, so it is hard for me to see that they are less effective. However I have heard that human body can get used to drugs, so that stronger drugs are need for the affect, especially painkillers. Therefore I think that problem of giving placebo or not is complicated. It can help people to minimize the usage of real drugs which keeps their effectiveness, but on the other hand, sometimes real drug is needed and without it, patient health cannot improve.
Unknown said…
Yes, I have experience with placebo effect. When I was younger (8-10 year) I take a headache pill and it instantly work and my headache instantly gone.
No, pills are such effective as in the past. Maybe it because of I don’t use drugs regularly, only when I’m ill (one time at 3-4 month).
I think it’s wrong to give patient placebo pills without they knowledge of it.
First of all, quite interesting topic, I heard something about placebo effect a long time ago, but now, I was curious to see this video. To be honest , I don't sure that I have ever experienced it, maybe in childhood.
Concerning drug effectiveness - tough question. Personally, I rarely get sick, but when something happens ( some serious thing ) - I consume any drugs and pills I see and they work - I'm kind of alive. Overall , during this rare time of sickness , I don't see decline in efficiency of medications.
I think, that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge, but if it is safe and can improve condition of a patient.
Propably I have experienced placebo effect but I didn't know about that in that moment.

No, I don't experience worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past but it's probably because I'm sick very rarely and it's hard to me to spot the difference.

Everything that can help people without causing any harm should be included to the treatment so yes- I have no problem with beeing treated with placebo.
I did effect placebo effect many times in my life mostly in gaming when changing one insignificant thing can trick your brain that it was the issue and u will do better next time.

When it comes to worse effectiveness yes i have used one particular anti-allergy drug that seemed to stop working as it should, i had to switch to another one due to that issue.

If the placebo treatment is done ONLY and SOLELY for patient's good yes. We re talking about helping him to get better if placebo is needed for ex patient who feels like he needs pills to get better give him placebo pills so he does not ruin treatment, on the other hand if i learned that i was getting placebo and i was paying for it like for normal drug that would be a shit show.
Szymon Gibalski said…
1. I am not sure. Obviously, I could be wrong, for example, maybe my doctor gave me fake drugs when I had a high fever two years ago.
2. Yes, my favorite drug for allergy does not work so good as it used to be. But I think the reason why such things happen is that I take this drug for too many years.
3. Of course, I should know if I get a real drug or just a sugar pill. If there is no way that I can survive I would like to know that rather than have a false hope that everything will be fine.
Unknown said…
I've experienced a placebo effect before - one time I've had a headache, and took pain pills to get rid of it. The pain went away and I felt perfectly fine - but, as it later turned out, I forgot to actually take the pill, but still though that I used it!

As for the effectiveness of drugs, I've personally never experienced a decrease, though I know a few people who supposedly have this issue.

I do not think that doctors should do placebo treatment without the patient's knowledge, as it would effectively be equivalent to lying to the patients. Doctor-patient trust is very important, and this would definitely damage it.
s18716 said…
I really like this topic, I just recently began to study it. If anyone is interested, I want to advise the book: "You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter" Dr. Joe Dispenza.
It seems to me that each of us came across this without knowing it.
Indeed, in many clinics in the world they practice such methods of treatment, but it seems to me that it depends on what kind of disease needs to be cured. Because in fact there are diseases where the placebo effect will not be enough, and in this case, the doctors take a lot of responsibility. But if we touch upon the struggle with the primary symptoms of the disease and various mental disorders, I think this will be useful.
Unknown said…
I have never gotten a placebo. Never. I really use any drugs at all and my parents are medicine doctors and I have never had any health issue that could be affected by placebo effect.

I do not experience any worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past. Because I just don’t take any drugs without a serious reason. The last time I swallowed any pill was some years ago.

No, because that could lead to misinforming other doctors.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
1. I think I did experienced placebo effect but while I was a child, now I don't take any drugs cause I don't need them so there is no posibility for me to take placebos :)
2. I don't think so, when I was younger I just used to take smaller doses of painkillers etc. cause of my weight. Now when I'm taking painkiller it works as it should. But as I earlier said, I don't take them so often, maybe once a year.
3. I think that healthcare SHOULD NOT include placebo treatment. Even if it works as guy in the video said it is lying to pacient which is paying big ammounts of money to healthcare. So.. when we finally got to the doctor after 3 years of waiting through NFZ it's good to take REAL pills instead of placebo ones. For some reason REAL pills have some medical and chemical stuff in it. The reason is: they can cure you. Plecebo is not curing you. It makes you think that you are cured. That's the difference.
1) No, i never experienced placebo effect.

2) rather not, because i don't use a lot of drugs, only when i' have headache or when i'm sick.

3) i think, that placebo treatment without patient knowledge is more effective, than when we know that is only placebo effect, but on the other hand the patients should know what kind of pills the doctor gives them.
Unknown said…
1) A lot of times, without a proper knowlage we are expose to the placebo at daily basis. We are tend to over exaggerate effect about particular feeling. We're looking for explanation, side effect of our feeling and finding, or rather imaginating it in our mind or body. Thats ridiculous. I made a mechanism that drives my body and if something isn't normal I'll check on it but don't necceserly chech for other side effect, just to not imagine it. Drugs has less effect on our body simply because we used to them for taking them a couple of times. In my opinion treatment with placebo is a creative option, as long as the thing that you treat is not harmless to the body or mind. I don't think that you can cure cancer only with placebo ;) Treating mind with placebo is compleatly different - we are tend to imagin things that dont exist, so why don't use placebo to cure it? I vote for that!
Unknown said…
Placebo effect may takes different forms. I haven’t experienced it yet, but for me the common thing is sticking the patch on the navel to people with motion sickness. It’s an obvious example of placebo effect, but I can confirm that it works.
The pharmaceutical market is still growing.

Nowadays, we have more and more medication advertisements. But in my case it’s not important if the pill is blue or white, I take it only when I need it and it always does its job.

A lot of people are still afraid of the doctors. In Poland preventative examinations are still unfortunately unpopular. I consider that healthcare which include placebo treatment without patient knowledge will be more repellent than encouraging. Many people will give up medical help.
Filip Sawicki said…
Nice point about treating patients that have psychological disorders with the placebo. I don’t really know details about that, but this could be a common way so help them. Sometimes it is very surprising how such things can significantly improve people’s live.
Filip Sawicki said…
Regarding the last answer I’m always concerned about curing people with the placebo on the law level. Some people wouldn’t agree to be given drugs that in fact are something very different than supposed to. That could result in some very nasty situations for doctors assigning such treatments.
Unknown said…
It's hard to say if I've ever experienced a placebo effect. I have always been treated at home by my parents. Dad as a doctor dealt with homeopathy, some people see this area of medicine precisely as a Placebo effect, although my dad studied a lot on this subject, he traveled in Poland to study in this topic and it is even known that our Pope John Paul II he was treated homeopathically. Usually, after taking these medications, I got better, so maybe they have some healing effects, or maybe the Placebo effect worked on me. Hard to say.
I don’t get sick a lot and I don’t need a lot of medicines. From time to time, I take vitamins, including cod-liver oil that are made of shark oil and have medical properties, so there is no placebo here. The influence of painkillers has always helped me, nothing has changed in this topic and their effectiveness.
If the Placebo effect would be as effective as normal treatment, then I would be in favor of introducing it. However, if we are to rely on the fact that it will solve itself without the patient's knowledge, I am completely opposed, because instead of helping, we can harm patient.
Anna Moskalenko said…
Well, in my childhood mom’s kiss in the bruised knee always worked as the great painkiller so I have experienced placebo effect :D
I don’t think that effectiveness of drugs is worse now. I use the same aspirin for a long time and it’s still work for me. Maybe our bodies getting used to the medicines that we use often, but I can’t feel it on myself.
I think that placebo treatment could be used. Success of treatment very often depends not only on medicines that we take, but on our mood and attitude too. Anyway, if it’s works it’s good, and the effectiveness of placebo effect was already proven.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
In my opinion placebo effect or homeopathic couldn't help you when you have flu virus in your organism. It doesn't help when your leg is broken and you need painkillers to relieve the pain. It also useless when you have cancer and you need chemotherapy. There is only one situation when effect placebo could be useful - in medical experiments where new drugs are tested.

An opinion that the placebo effect can cure you is a placebo effect. Please don't leave in the middle age and go to the doctors and use real medicine when you have a disease.
I think that I have never experienced placebo effect, but I might be wrong because I wouldn’t know about it. Actually, I didn’t experience worst effectiveness of drugs then in the past, but it might be because I do not use drugs that much so maybe my body just had no time to get used to any of it. I also don’t get sick so often, so I maybe just didn’t realize it. In my opinion placebo treatment should be used in some cases because it’s always less harmful for your organism to don’t take real drugs but only under strict circumstances and should be monitored in case of need to switch to real treatment.
Unknown said…
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. It seems to me that it would give some scope to pops, especially if the patient experiences a placebo effect and thinks that something is hurting him although he has no evidence. I remember that there was such an episode of dr. house where the patient got a placebo and said how great it works and wants it more. But if something really hurt me and I would get a medicine that dosen't helps me? For sure I don't like something like that, a long-lasting place should be somehow regulated if it is to be useful.
Have I experienced placebo effect - well, I don't know, possibly I did. I think it's really possible - people are prone to manipulation. I try to avoid taking drugs when I'm ill - when I do, I would rather buy a more expensive one, but I can't explain why - I assume that a lot of medicines for popular diseases have almost the same ingredients. I think that placebo therapy might be a good solution for "not serious" illnesses
Marcin Górski said…
Placebo is very interesting effect. It's very hard to talk about my experience with that. It was possible but only when I was younger. Nowadays, I have to be careful about my life and when I'm ill I'm taking real drugs because it can help me. I don't want to loose time for games.
Of course, I don't like to take drugs for everything. I'm taking drugs only when it's require. It's not dietary supplement. I think that effectiveness is the same. For example, I have the same drugs for headache as in the past.
Last question is not easy. Placebo is healthier way to recover but I think that patient should be aware of everything in common with his life. It's not a good place to play.
1. Have you ever experienced placebo effect?
2. Do you experience worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past?
3. Do you think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge?
1. I can't really remember any situation.
2. Nope, also can't really recal any moment.
3. Ah, there is never clear response to question like this one. It all depends on what problem we got. It would be manipulating and you can't do that especially if someone is really sick. Patient almost always should know what is going on. I think it should be only used on people that mental health is clearly damaged and they can't think rational.
No, i have never experienced placebo effect.

I try not to take medicaments even i feel really bad.

I think that is a great idea, the only thing is that the treatment process should be under restrict control of doctors.
If they prescribe some placebo pills instead of normal medicaments, then patient should have medical appointment every single week in order to check if it brought expected effect.
Illia Lukisha said…
1. Have you ever experienced placebo effect?
We never know if placebo worked, because if we'll know, it can ruin the magic. But I think that our brain have amazing control on our body, and if really want to not be sick for example, you'll not, unless you swim in ice water for an hour.

2. Do you experience worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past?
Sometimes, but I never thought about it this way.

3. Do you think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge?
I think so, because as I mentioned above our brain can do amazing things with our body.
Mykhailo Reznyk said…
I don’t know if I have ever experienced placebo effect. As a kid I had some serious health problems, so I had been taking a lot of medicine. Honestly, being sick was my normal state and time to time I had a luck to stay healthy for a few weeks. So considering amount of pills I took during my childhood there is quite a chance that at least once it was placebo.
It’s actually a very interesting topic. It is scientifically proved that placebo does work. Somehow your brain invokes these psychological, biological and chemobiological processes in your body which lead to your rehabilitation. Nevertheless, I would not include placebo to the list of treatments. I believe that it’s just like hypnosis, really depends on patient. There are people who can easily convince themselves that this methods actually work, while there are also people who just not so easily believe in things. Even if they don’t know that pills given to them are not real, and doctors assure such patients about effectiveness of them, still they may just not be convinced enough. So I think the best solution is just to use it as a last resort rather than a first choice.
Unknown said…
1. Have you ever experienced placebo effect?

I have never taken any serious medicaments and I have never taken placebo instead of medicaments so I can say that I have never experienced placebo effect.

2. Do you experience worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past?

I don't think so. I don't take much drugs. Sometimes I take analgesics whe I have headache or hangover and that's it so I didn't noticed any differents to compare past and now.

3. Do you think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge?

If I had a cancer or something like that I would have rather get real medicaments than placebo.
Patryk Górski said…
1. Have you ever experienced placebo effect?

Yes, it happens, not that often, but it happens. It's weird feeling for me, everything happens in some kind of order, and you know what is going to happen next, or have that "I've seen this before" feeling.

2. Do you experience worse effectiveness of drugs than in the past?

No, mainly because I try to avoid taking drugs, when it is not necessary.

3. Do you think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge?

I don't think that the placebo effect should be the topic of medical treatment. Of course, it would be good to learn why it happens, but I think that nowadays we have a lot of more serious issues to handle
Unknown said…
I’m 99% sure that I have not.

I don’t think so. It works now as it worked in the past, at least I think it’s like this, but I can’t remember any special moment.

Nope. I think that patients should know what is going on and what kind of drugs he/she is going to take.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I think I haven't experienced the placebo effect, I have never heard of it, but it is quite an interesting topic .. Everything is in people's minds and thanks to that it seems to them that they are sick and aren't really.

I practically doesn't use drugs, so it's hard for me to say anything about it

I don't know, it's hard for me to relate to it, but I don'ythink so. There are definitely pros and cons.

Unknown said…
Maybe when I was child I experienced kind of placebo effect, for example when parents stick adhesive bandage and say “now it will be ok”. Year ago when I was very bad accident I had to take strong painkillers. After that when I taking Apap or Ibuprom the effect of this pills is different. I thing healthcare shouldn’t include placebo treatment because sometimes this is very risky for the patient.
I think each of us felt the placebo effect at least once. As it was said in video, it is not just drugs can cause that phenomena, but some talks like "go get some sleep, I sure you'll get better in the morning". And you know what ? Sometimes it really worked that way!
Also, I don't know way but Im pretty sure that about 50% of all frags sold in the stores lie Lidl or Zabka has no effect at all. Personally me, I try to use drugs in case if I feel really bad. In my opinion it is good idea to include the placebo as a treatment. Just because it works !
Marta Kowalczyk said…
Yes, of course it is possible that I experienced a placebo effect in my live, but there have never been a situation that I experienced it and then got informed what actually happened. So many things about our minds are yet to be discovered or maybe never will be.
Concerning your other question, I do not believe that patients should be treated in such a way – it might break our trust in doctors, and we could doubt our treatment is fake in case of sickness – would it be possible then to experience anti-placebo effect? I mean, could a treatment not work becouse we would believe it is fake?
I don’t think that I have ever experienced a placebo effect, I didn't have a lot of diseases in my life.

Actually, I don’t use a lot of drugs and didn’t use it before. Activated charcoal works in the same way :)

It is a little bit difficult to answer the third question. From one side, it's unfair to deceive the patients, but from the other side, there are situations, where it will be better to use the placebo effect. I think that healthcare should include placebo treatment without patient knowledge, but only according to rules when it could be used and when not
Unknown said…
I think that I experience placebo effect very often. When I get sick I rarely use medicine because most cases I convince myself that I don't need any pills and my organism will heal itself. And it works almost anytime, but when it comes to a serious illness an antibiotic is more useful. I believe that placebo effect works not only because it helps me but it is confirmed by many other people.
I don't really know because I use drugs uncommonly but in my opinion it's conneted with people' attitude.
To my mind doctors shouldn't use placebo on their patients without their knowledge because as I said before some diseases needs to be treated by specific compounds in medicines. Not giving the right medicine may harm the patient.

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The problem with ecological cars emission in UK Since the adoption of the European Emission Allowance Directive in the European Parliament, all car makers have tried to submit. Since 1992, the Euro I standard has been in force, which limited the emission of carbon monoxide to the atmosphere. The Euro VI standard currently applies, which limits the series of exhaust gases. These include: hydrocarbons, nitrogen and carbon oxides, and dust.   The most significant change was brought by the Euro IV standard. For the first time it introduced the limitation of nitrogen oxides, which are responsible for the harmful compounds of smog.   What is smog?   Smog consists of sulfur oxides, nitrogen and carbon. In addition, solid substances such as suspended dust (PM). Dust suspend in atmospheric aerosols may be in liquid and solid form. These can be particles of sea salt, clouds from the Sahara and artificial compounds made by people. These compounds often come fr

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Owls are nocturnal creatures. They’re wide awake at night and they sleep during the day. If this sounds like bliss to you, then, like about 20 percent of the population who find themselves most active at around 9 pm, you may fall into the same category as our feathered friend. Night owls often have difficulty waking up in the morning, and like to be up late at night.  Studies of animal behaviour indicate that being a night owl may actually be built into some people’s genes. This would explain why those late-to-bed, late-to-rise people find it so difficult to change their behaviour. The trouble for night owls is that they just have to be at places such as work and school far too early. This is when the alarm clock becomes the night owl’s most important survival tool. Experts say that one way for a night owl to beat their dependence on their alarm clocks is to sleep with the curtains open. The Theory is that if they do so, the morning sunlight will awaken them gently and naturally.

Week 4 [06-12.11.2017] This is what happens when you reply to spam email.

James Veitch is a British comedian. In today’s Ted Talk James with characteristic for himself a sense of humor shows how he deals with spam emails and why responding to junk messages may be sometimes dangerous. Questions: What do you think about James’s  way of dealing with spam? Why are junk messages legal, even though it sometimes may be a fraud? Dou you have a problem with spam? How do you deal with with it?