Even if they know the pills are fake, chronic back pain sufferers may get relief from placebo drugs, a new study indicates.
Researchers found that patients who knowingly took a placebo pill while undergoing traditional treatment for lower back pain had less pain and disability than those who received traditional treatment alone.
“These findings turn our understanding of the placebo effect on its head,” said Ted Kaptchuk, a joint senior author of the study and director of the Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
