Placebo Effect Debunked

The placebo effect appears to be largely a product of response bias and questionable research practices rather than genuine healing. Major findings: 1) Placebo effects only show up in subjective measures, never objective ones like wound healing or lab tests. 2) Natural improvement is often misinterpreted as placebo effect. 3) Studies showing strong placebo effects typically have poor methodology or researcher bias. 4) Animal studies and research on biological mechanisms (opioid/dopamine systems) fail to replicate. Rather than demonstrating mind-body healing, placebos mainly serve to blind subjects in research designs. Large “placebo effects” in unblinded studies demonstrate the importance of proper blinding rather than proving placebo power.

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