What's the most impressive placebo effect recorded in a study? Is it always limited to mild pain relief?
For stories like this, people always predictably discuss how ethical it is for doctors to knowingly prescribe placebos for stories and how different interventions have different impacts.
If placebo alone can't cure anything and only gives mild pain relief, I'm surprised nobody mentions it's overhyped.
> Placebo effects are strongest for patient self-reported subjective symptoms (classically, pain) and weakest for objective clinical signs measured by experienced observers.
Do you have a specific example of a very strong placebo effect though that's beyond patients reporting mild pain relief?
My point is people seem to discuss placebo with an implied assumption that the effect is so big it's worth e.g. discussing the ethics of prescribing it. If it's only giving mild pain relief I don't see why it's that interesting.
For my money, the most impressive placebo effect ever is the purported improvement in athletic performance using Breathe Right Nasal Strips. The inventors have made many millions of dollars by cleverly repackaging and reframing adhesive tape. See, for example: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/06/980609080557.h...
> Arthroscopic knee surgery has been a common orthopedic procedure in the United States, with about 692,000 of them performed in 2010,2 but the procedure has proven no better than a sham when done to address degenerative wear and tear, particularly on the meniscus.
Isn't this just showing the supposed real surgery doesn't work? I don't see how this is showing placebo has an impressive effect.
To be honest, we are actively hacking our body when using hormone replacement therapy. Strange things are bound to happen. Skipping a dose of estrogen can trick the body into triggering PMS like symptoms, etc.
For stories like this, people always predictably discuss how ethical it is for doctors to knowingly prescribe placebos for stories and how different interventions have different impacts.
If placebo alone can't cure anything and only gives mild pain relief, I'm surprised nobody mentions it's overhyped.