Inhaling albuterol helps asthmatic lungs work better, but patients who get it don’t feel much better than those treated with a placebo inhaler or phony acupuncture, according to a U.S. study. The results, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrate the importance of, literally, caring for patients and not just providing drugs, said co-author Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard Medical School. The findings also demonstrate the impact of the so-called “placebo effect,” or the phenomenon seen in clinical trials when people given inactive, fake “treatments,” such as a sugar pill or saline, show improvements.
