Despite a recent report questioning whether an inactive medical treatment can cause improvement in patientsī symptoms, new research from Canada suggests that the placebo effect is real.
The study found that Parkinsonīs disease patients who took an inactive placebo pill experienced a substantial increase in the release of a brain chemical called dopamine. The release of dopamine is impaired in people with Parkinsonīs.
The researchers measured dopamine levels under two different conditions. During one part of the study, patients did not know whether they were taking the Parkinsonīs drug apomorphine or a placebo. Dopamine was also measured under normal conditions when patients knew they were not taking a placebo.
When patients were unknowingly taking a placebo, they experienced an increase in dopamine levels similar to that caused by Parkinsonīs drugs.
Science August 10, 2001; 293:1164-1166
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