Most people have heard of the placebo effect. What about nocebo? Lessebo? Drucebo? and I offer a new one, critical to understanding improved health as we Make America Healthy: The aiatrocebo effect.
"In vaccine and antidepressant trials, subjects informed of certain side effects report them at rates two to three times higher than those uninformed. This has created ethical tension between informed consent and the minimization of induced harm. Clinicians must balance transparency with protection from suggestion." Uh oh. We don't want to endanger informed consent. Maybe the patients feel that they don't have the option to say no. Probably, they are reporting at a higher rate because they have been informed of the correlation. Those kept in the dark don't know to report.
If only clinical trials were required to have these measures built in from the get go. Excellent summary and a fantastic analysis of mind-body-environment interactions.
I see apples everywhere (as in, "Dr. James Lyons-Weiler upsets the scientific apple cart once agin--for the betterment of science, also, once again."). Excellent treatise and delivered at a time when it's most relavent. The research community must feel compelled to reinvent itself. The aiatrocebo effect needs to be considered as an essential element of that reinvention.
"In vaccine and antidepressant trials, subjects informed of certain side effects report them at rates two to three times higher than those uninformed. This has created ethical tension between informed consent and the minimization of induced harm. Clinicians must balance transparency with protection from suggestion." Uh oh. We don't want to endanger informed consent. Maybe the patients feel that they don't have the option to say no. Probably, they are reporting at a higher rate because they have been informed of the correlation. Those kept in the dark don't know to report.
If only clinical trials were required to have these measures built in from the get go. Excellent summary and a fantastic analysis of mind-body-environment interactions.
I see apples everywhere (as in, "Dr. James Lyons-Weiler upsets the scientific apple cart once agin--for the betterment of science, also, once again."). Excellent treatise and delivered at a time when it's most relavent. The research community must feel compelled to reinvent itself. The aiatrocebo effect needs to be considered as an essential element of that reinvention.