The Placebo Effect: How Fake Medicine Works
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's called the Placebo Effect, when fake medicine works. It's being used for a number of different ailments.
There are a couple of different explanations for this. One is the power of persuasion. If a doctor says that you're getting a therapy that works, then you feel better.
Now, there is evidence that the placebos can actually trigger the release of brain chemicals that mimic the effect of real drugs and treatments.
They look like any ordinary pill, but it is actually fake medication that doctors say can cure some of the most common medical conditions.
Linda Buonanno suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and signed up to test a new treatment. She was shocked when doctors told her that she wouldn't be getting real medicine, but a placebo instead.
"We said very clearly, you don't have to believe in it, just do it," said Dr. Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard. "It's a kind of crazy idea."
"I was so disappointed, I said a placebo, a sugar pill? Are you kidding? That's not going to work," Buonanno said.
However, it did work. Her symptoms disappeared.
In another study, migraine sufferers were also told they were being given a placebo. Their pain level was reduced by 30 percent.
"I believe that there is a little part of you that's saying, hmm, I wonder if this really is a placebo, maybe he's just telling me that," said Psychologist Harris Stratyner.
However, placebos can activate the same neurological transmitters as some drugs, but there are limits to the placebo effect.
While placebo treatments don't work for treating cancer, doctors said they can be very effective in relieving nausea and pain for some cancer patients.
