title: The placebo effect reconsidered.
abstract: Usage of the terms placebo and placebo effect has changed dramatically within medical history. Although placebos are still useful within research, the placebo effect has become a large and ill-defined concept threatening to obscure rather than to clarify whatever phenomenon is being described. Placebos and placebo effects should be fundamentally reconsidered if they are to be of continued use in medical practice.
mesh_terms: D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010919:Placebos / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos