Guest guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hr Dr. Giarnella and other Super Trainers: Interesting article and it fits right in with other research conducted on food expectations. In " Mindless Eating " by Wansink (GREAT BOOK), he describes a research project they conducted where they served a wine they described as " two-buck Chuck " with two different descriptions. One was described the wine as a California red; the other had the SAME wine was described as North Dakota red. The people at the meal served the " California red " not only reported the wine as better, but the entire meal as well; the " North Dakota red " found the eaters with less enthusiasm for the meal. The capper is that both groups were served the SAME food too! Read " Mindless Eating " --it is an AWESOME book, from the group that reported on the self-filling soup bowls early last year. Merrick, M.A. Bellevue, NE > > I found the following very interesting. > > Ralph Giarnella MD > Southington Ct USA > > A Placebo Effect for Pricey Placebos in Placating Pain > > BOSTON, March 4 -- Irrational and extraordinary as it > may seem, expensive placebos offer greater pain relief > than cheap ones, found researchers here. > > Put another way, placebos that cost pennies may be no > therapeutic bargain in a patient's eyes compared with > placebos that cost dollars -- even though they are the > very same placebo. > > One implication is that extra-clinical factors -- such > as price or brand name -- may alter the perceived > efficacy of a real medication, according to Dan > Ariely, Ph.D., of Massachusetts Institute of > Technology, and colleagues. > > The finding emerged from a randomized, blinded study, > in which 82 healthy paid volunteers were given what > they were told was a new opioid and asked to rate its > effect on painful electric shocks, Dr. Ariely and > colleagues reported in a research letter in the March > 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical > Association. > > > Carefully consider the placebo effect when explaining > medications to patients and do not emphasize elements > such as price discounts or brand names. > In fact, the volunteers were all given the same > placebo, but some were told its price was $2.50 a pill > and others were told the cost was discounted to 10 > cents a pill, the researchers reported. > > Those who got the perceived expensive pill had > significantly greater pain reduction (P=0.02) than > those who thought they were getting the cheaper > version, Dr. Ariely and colleagues found. > > Dr. Ariely, a behavioral economist at MIT's Media Lab, > said the finding is part of a range of human responses > to what are essentially marketing factors. He explores > other aspects of the issue in his recently published > book, Predictably Irrational. > > With pain, Dr. Ariely said, " if you expect it to be > worse, it could be worse. So what can we do in the > marketplace so people don't expect it to be worse? " > > For instance, he added, poor people are often offered > medicines at a discount. " Maybe we don't want to > advertise that it's discounted, " he said. > > More generally, he said, doctors might want to take > the placebo effect into account when they explain the > benefits of medications, avoiding terms that might > cause a patient to think a drug is second-rate. > > Among other things, Dr. Ariely and colleagues said, > the finding could explain why many patients prefer > higher-priced drugs such as -2 inhibitors instead > of old standbys like acetaminophen or acetylsalicylic > acid. > > It might also offer an explanation as to why some > patients report that generic drugs are less effective > than brand-name products, they said. > > In the experiment, the researchers recruited the 82 > volunteers and told them they were part of a medical > experiment using a new pain-killer called Velodone. > > Much of the information they were given was in a slick > brochure for the " drug, " including its price. But in a > random fashion volunteers got either a brochure in > which the price was set at $2.50 or 10 cents per pill. > > Electrical shocks to the wrist were calibrated to each > participant's pain tolerance and after calibration, > they were given a series of test shocks, which the > volunteers rated on a visual analog scale. > > They were given the pill -- which they were told would > act rapidly -- and after 15 minutes the tests shocks > were repeated. For each test voltage, the post-pill > score was subtracted from the pre-pill score and the > mean of the differences was calculated. > > The researchers found: > > In the regular-price group, 85.4% of participants > experienced a mean pain reduction after taking the > pill, compared with 61% in the low-price group > (significant at P=0.02). > When only the most painful shocks for each participant > were considered, the results were similar: 80.5% of > the full-price group had a mean pain reduction, > compared with 56.1% of the low-price group. The > difference was significant at P=0.03. > Over all of the test voltages, pain reduction was > significantly greater for the regular-price pill, at > P0.001. > In addition, for 26 of 29 voltage intensities, mean > pain reduction was greater for the full-price pill. > Dr. Ariely said placebos are known to have effects, > which in clinical trials are usually considered a > nuisance that must be discounted. > > " Do we really want to consider it a nuisance variable > or do we want to think about how to use it, " he said. > > The study was supported by MIT. The researchers > reported no conflicts. > > Primary source: Journal of the American Medical > Association > Source reference: > Waber RL, et al. " Commercial features of placebo and > therapeutic efficacy. " JAMA 2008; 299(9): 1016-17. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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