JPV
ɹǝqɯǝɯ ɹoıuǝs
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@JPV, we should ban drugs if we know they do not work at all.
Well, homeopathic remedies would seem to, at least, be effective as placebos. Science is slowly accepting that placebos may actually have some therapeutic relevance. Meanwhile, many drugs on the market are now seen as no more effective than placebos which seems to imply that their effectiveness may be entirely due to the placebo effect. How something like this gets reconciled when it comes time to decide what does or doesn't get banned, is way beyond me.
How Placebos Change the Patient's Brain (US National Library of Medicine)
First, as the placebo effect is basically a psychosocial context effect, these data indicate that different social stimuli, such as words and rituals of the therapeutic act, may change the chemistry and circuitry of the patient's brain. Second, the mechanisms that are activated by placebos are the same as those activated by drugs, which suggests a cognitive/affective interference with drug action. Third, if prefrontal functioning is impaired, placebo responses are reduced or totally lacking, as occurs in dementia of the Alzheimer's type.
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