NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Michelle Dickinson: Power in placebo rationale

By Michelle Dickinson
NZ Herald·
29 Sep, 2017 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Research shows the placebo effect can still be useful even when patients are told about it. Photo / 123RF

Research shows the placebo effect can still be useful even when patients are told about it. Photo / 123RF

Opinion by Michelle DickinsonLearn more

The placebo effect happens when a person takes a medication or receives a treatment and perceives that it has relieved their suffering even though it has no proven therapeutic effect for the condition.

Many placebos are just sugar filled pills, yet they have been shown to help in about 30 per cent of patients with significant impacts seen in chronic back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, episodic migraines and rhinitis.

We still don't know how placebos work, but some researchers believe that they evoke a psychological and in turn a physical response where the act of taking a pill gives you a positive sense of well-being.

Although placebos have been known to help patients, the assumption has been that placebos only work when the patient believes that they are being given a real treatment leaving the doctor with an ethical decision of whether or not to deceive their patients into taking something they know has no active ingredients.

This week new research published in the journal Pain may help with this dilemma and remove the need for doctors to lie to their patients to try and help them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The experiment took 160 volunteers aged between 18 and 65 and asked them to put their arm on a heating plate to form a minor burn. The volunteers were then split into four groups with different aftercare treatment.

The first group was given a placebo cream; however, they were told that they had been prescribed a burn treatment cream containing the topical painkiller lidocaine to help reduce the pain of the burn. They were given information about the effectiveness of the cream and how it was proven in several high-quality studies.

The second group was given a placebo cream and told that it contained no active ingredients. They were then given a 15-minute talk explaining the meaning of the placebo effect using evidence where it had been found to alleviate symptoms of pain in Parkinson's disease, asthma, migraines and depression.

They were taught about how the body can self-heal using placebos in the same way that Pavlov's dogs physically salivated when they heard a bell and were told that a positive attitude could be helpful for the efficiency of placebos.

The third group was given a placebo cream and told that their cream was an inert substance and did not contain any pharmacological ingredients.

Discover more

Opinion

Michelle Dickinson: The eyes have it

06 Oct 04:00 PM
Opinion

Nanogirl: Fancy some low-fat bacon?

27 Oct 04:00 PM

The fourth group was not given and aftercare and acted as a control group.

The groups were then asked to describe how they felt after receiving their treatments.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Those patients who thought they received lidocaine and who heard the placebo explanation talk reported positive benefits from their creams and recorded that their burn unpleasantness had reduced after using the cream even though neither cream contained any medicine.

In contrast, the group that knew they were receiving a placebo cream with no explanation were left in uncomfortable pain to the same extent of the no-treatment control group.

Although I never want to volunteer for a study where you have to burn your arm, I'm glad 160 other people did as this study suggests that the placebo effect can still be useful even when patients are told about it, as long as they are also given an explanation about how it might bring benefits.

These results go against previous thoughts that placebo pills only worked when patients were deceived into thinking they were taking an active ingredient for it to work.

Thanks to some brave volunteers, this research could open up options for doctors to openly prescribe sugar pills with the potential to relieve suffering in an ethically justifiable way.

Dr Michelle Dickinson, also known as Nanogirl, is an Auckland University nanotechnologist who is passionate about getting Kiwis hooked on science. Tweet her your science questions @medickinson.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Fourth measles case in Wairarapa linked to overseas travel cluster

11 Jul 04:28 AM
Wellington

Wellington Chamber of Commerce boss resigns abruptly

11 Jul 04:17 AM
New Zealand

Murder trial video shows chaotic final minutes of man's life

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Fourth measles case in Wairarapa linked to overseas travel cluster

Fourth measles case in Wairarapa linked to overseas travel cluster

11 Jul 04:28 AM

Locals are being urged to get immunised as another case is confirmed.

Wellington Chamber of Commerce boss resigns abruptly

Wellington Chamber of Commerce boss resigns abruptly

11 Jul 04:17 AM
Murder trial video shows chaotic final minutes of man's life

Murder trial video shows chaotic final minutes of man's life

'Dumbfounded': Murder accused allegedly asked about dead mum's money at funeral

'Dumbfounded': Murder accused allegedly asked about dead mum's money at funeral

11 Jul 04:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP