Placebos are commonly known as the inert drugs — think sugar pills — that researchers use to measure the effects of real drugs. But research shows they can actually improve certain health conditions. ...

It was time for Dr. Musavi to convey the sad news. With her health rapidly declining, his patient, Mrs. Ozra, had less than two weeks to live. Summoning the family together, he encouraged them to make ...

Harnessing the placebo effect for pain relief could help to reduce dosages of painkillers, lowering the risk of both side effects and becoming dependent on medication. Because it's a psychological ...

YouTuber and physician Rohin Francis, MBBS, does a deep-dive on the power of placebo. The following is a partial transcript of this video; note that errors are possible. Francis: The placebo effect.

Catarina Craveiro, a biomedical research technician from Lisbon, had been hobbled by lower back pain from scoliosis since childhood, unable to do much physically and dependent on ibuprofen for relief.

New findings argue against a direct causal role for dopamine during the experience of a treatment effect in the establishment of positive treatment expectations and placebo analgesia in healthy ...

Researchers have used controlled groups in clinical trials to test the effectiveness of medical interventions or drugs against what is commonly referred to as the Placebo Effect. The placebo effect is ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

When you were a child and fell playing outside, a single bandage — a placebo of sorts — could take away the pain. The placebo effect has long been somewhat of a medical mystery. While researchers ...

Earlier this month, a Food and Drug Administration panel concluded that a common decongestant ingredient used in drugs like Sudafed and NyQuil doesn’t work. The panel agreed that while the ingredient, ...

Want to stay current with Arthur’s writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. I remember once, at summer camp in the 1970s, 3,000 miles from home, I came down with a nasty ...