Have a Placebo! It'll make you alllll better.

CRAAAAZY FOR PLACEBOS!

Chemistry Honors first glimpsed placebos in a short clip that included placebos from Mulan (lucky cricket), Kung Fu Panda (secret ingrediant), and Mary Poppins (spoonful of sugar). Later, we watched London from Suite Life on Deck receive a placebo to make her smarter--smartlipstick and smartperfume. We also watched a scene from Family Guy, where the family's anger problems were solved by "mood elevators" (which were, in fact, sugar pills).

So what are placebos?

Placebos are usually sugar or water pills that have absolutely no effect. But because the consumer believes that the placebo will cure them, it actually does. Placebos can also be injections, and even surgeries. They are generally 33%-67% effective.

Fact:
White Pills < Colored Pills
& Pill < Injection
because of how the brain perceives effectiveness.
Isn't it funny how the human mind can trick itself?

Nocebos are placebo's evil twin. They are harmless substances that cause harm because the consumer believes they are harmful. For example, during a study in Japan, a man was given a harmless leaf but was told it was poison ivy. Though the leaf had no effect on him, the man developed a rash!

Placebo: I shall please
Nocebo: I shall harm

We learned that placebos were necessary for the development and testing of new drugs and medicines. And to demonstrate its role, Chemistry Honors even participated in a clinic test!

Using caffeinated and decaffeinated rootbeer, the placebo cpr group was able to collect information on the effectiveness of placebos concerning the relationship between heart rate and caffeine. It was very cool to see it results in person--though I wasn't aware rootbeer even had caffeine in it!

Sayoni Saha in period 7 also told me of her firsthand experience with placebos, in a trial group with medication for behavior improvement in children with Down Syndrome. One mother, whose child had been taking a placebo, was stubbornly insistent on obtaining the "medicine". Though it made for a funny story, it was showed us how powerful a placebo's effect could be.

But now I am a little doubtful. Should I ever participate in a test group, I'm sure I won't see any effects--I'd be too suspicious of being placed in the placebo group!