14 DAY TRIAL // My colleague Vlad Tarko has recently written an article about placebo, in which the myth saying that we can heal ourselves with the power of the mind was infirmed. Despite this, there was a clear confirmation that there is a certain positive effect on the organism.
But those who think that all placebos have the same power are wrong, a study published in the British Medical Journal showing that a placebo device has a better effect than a placebo pill.
The study of 270 individuals with chronic arm pain had two phases. In the first phase, 135 patients were given sham acupuncture, and another 135 patients were given a placebo pill for two weeks. During this period, investigators found no strong evidence for an enhanced effect with placebo devices compared with placebo pills.
In the second phase of the study, the same patients were randomized again, with half the patients entered in a sham acupuncture device versus real acupuncture trial, and the other half in a placebo pill vs. real pain pill trial.
Much to the team's surprise, patients receiving sham acupuncture reported a more significant decrease in pain and symptom severity than those receiving placebo pills for the duration of the trials.
The researchers concluded that the placebo effect varies by type of placebo used, devices showing an increased efficiency to pills.