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Pinpointing the Placebo Effect

Friday, May 18, 2007

All over the world, people say they are healed by things that turn out to be placebo. So it's easy to think that they must have been faking in the first place if all it took was a little sugar pill to assuage their ailments. But keep your scoffing at bay. That little white pill may be inducing some very real effects. We talk to placebo experts Fabrizio Benedetti and Tor Wager who tell us about the well-stocked pharmacy in our brains, just waiting to be unlocked.

Then pain expert, Dr. Daniel Carr, takes us to the WWII Battle of Anzio, where a puzzled young medic sees that the same bullet can create very different experiences of pain. And Daniel Moerman tells us how the color of a pill effects how well Italians sleep.

Why Dennis and Denise are Dentists
Benedetti's work on Medical Mimicry
Meaning, Medecine, and the Placebo Effect by Dan Moerman
Tor Wager sees the placebo effect in the brain
Narrative, Pain, and Suffering by Daniel B. Carr


Comments

  • [1] Linda Gerver from Kings Park, New York May 15, 2007 - 09:59PM

    I love Radio Lab. I stumbled on it one day and can't wait to hear it again. It is one of the best shows on radio.


  • [2] Anwar Nunez from Berkeley, CA May 17, 2007 - 07:23PM

    I've been waiting for new episodes for too long! I can't express the excitement I felt when I first saw the release dates. My near feature will revolve around this.

    Every Radio Lab episode from season one and two can be used as a benchmark for perfection, even beatuy, on radio shows. We can, no doubt, expect this measure to be surpassed in the coming weeks.


  • [3] jan allison from new york, new york May 21, 2007 - 01:40PM

    The program on placebos was fascinating as a subject, but in addition, it was a model of effective teaching strategies -- the use of repetition, the variety of examples, the previewing of a subtopic, the various voices and music. I want my students to research a topic and model their class presentations on your style. Kudos!
  • [4] Gerald Wilson May 26, 2007 - 05:57PM

    My favorite episode so far this season has been Sleep. But Placebo is a close second. Amazing stuff. Bravo WNYC!
  • [5] Dixie Yid from East Coast June 20, 2007 - 10:31AM

    I agree with the previous commenters. Radio Lab is, by far, my favorite NPR program. I've posted some of my reflections on this portion of the program and that is available here:

    http://dixieyid.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-there-is-no-pain-when-dying-al.html

    -Dixie Yid
  • [6] Tom Clear from Chicago June 25, 2007 - 02:50PM

    This was the best show I ever heard on

    public radio. Thanks, and keep it up!
  • [7] ken jacobsen from tempe az July 01, 2007 - 06:28PM

    I tried listening to "Placebo" for a few minutes but the annoying way it was edited, which was apparently supposed to be cute or entertaining, was so annoying I had to give up. PLEASE if you want people to listen to your programming, don't play silly games with it.
  • [8] Dixie Yid from East Coast July 03, 2007 - 10:49AM

    I very much enjoy the sound effects and the way you play with the human voice. Please keep it up!

    -Dixie Yid
  • [9] ME from Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin July 15, 2007 - 12:07PM

    GREAT!!!
  • [10] Christine Saum from Cambridge, MA February 28, 2008 - 05:57PM

    If you want to hear something else amazing about the placebo effect, check out this story from Morning Edition on research by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer involving placebo and exercise.

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17792517
  • [11] Tom from England June 24, 2008 - 01:52PM

    How can one induce the "placebo effect" on oneself?

    In other words how can one instill faith in oneself to treat oneself using the "placebo effect"?

    If not, does one have to try to "trick" oneself into a "self-belief" mindset to produce the "placebo effect", and if possible how would one accomplish that? Tom.
  • [12] Margi from Mullumbimby, Australia July 13, 2008 - 07:47PM

    In answer to your comment Tom, we have been interested in this phenomena of self healing with placebos, and have been following the placebo debate over the last 2 years.

    As conscious purveyors of placebos, we are concerned with the potential for the placebo effect to inspire self- healing. . . there is some evidence to suggest that ingesting a placebo *in the awareness that it is a placebo* may still gain some benefit.

    There are some stories on our website www.universalplacebos.com.au which illustrate some different ways in which knowingly taking a placebo has been effective.

    We are the original suppliers of placebos to the general public. We welcome your comments and feedback on your *placebo experiences*


This thread is closed.


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