flapdoodle gains adherents

[Joanna Sheldon]

At 09:22 09-06-01, Yoshie quoted:
>The investigators analyzed 114 published studies involving about 7,500 
>patients with 40 different conditions. The report found no support for the 
>common notion that, in general, about a third of patients will improve if 
>they are given a dummy pill and told it is real.
>
>Instead, the researchers theorize, patients seem to improve after taking 
>placebos because most diseases have uneven courses in which their severity 
>waxes and wanes. In studies in which treatments are compared not just with 
>placebos but also with no treatment at all, they said, participants given 
>no treatment improve at about the same rate as participants given placebos.

Dear me.  To think how much money is thrown at the medicos...

cheers,
Joanna

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