Can Sugar Pills Relieve Pain?

Pills
Provided by Propaganda

Placebo effect, it was a new “technology” I had never heard before. That was I learned from a science class. That class was started with a YouTube video: a group of volunteers stood outside the hospital and each of them swallowed a whole bottle of “sleeping pills”, waiting for any symptoms. Surprisingly, ten minutes passed, half an hour, one hour, they were still happily and excitedly chatting there without any symptoms falling asleep or feeling dizzy. This kind of homeopathy could be the most ridiculous medicine I had ever heard. According to the manufacturer, even though it is hard to find any active ingredient in those pills, they could relieve pain and heal some diseases, including cancer!

However, the following lecture changed my mind. The placebo effect is a strong mind of patients to get better even when they only get dummy treatment or sham treatment, so that can mean a sugar pill, a sham ultrasound, or a fake operation. The amazing thing is, when people get these fake treatments, they often get better. The placebo effect shows the psychological power of the body, which really can relieve pains and make the symptoms better. They just build up your memory and increase your expectation.

The Thinker
Photo by Karigee

Not only the adults, children and animals could respond to the placebo effect because the people around them have higher expectations of dummy treatments that being given to them, and it is quite natural to expect your children to react to your expectation that they will get better.



Injection
Provided by Wikipedia

There have been several different studies about pain on the placebo effect, and they show a salt water injection having no active ingredient in it is a more effective treatment for pain than dummy sugar pills. The interesting thing is, there are no drugs in neither the injection nor the sugar pills. But maybe the injection feels like a dramatic and serious treatment, that’s why people expect more pain relief than dummy pills.

Because it is just a power in mind which has the effect to heal your diseases and pains, I don’t think people should rely on it. Some patients may delay the best time for treatment, and make their diseases worse.

Cigarette Pack in the United Kingdom
Provided by Google Wikipedia

If impossible, in the future, the government should consider putting “smoking is good for health”. Due to the placebo effect, cigarette won’t be harmful anymore!