title: [Can the placebo be the cure?].
abstract: Effect of placebo still brings out questionable views and opinions, despite achievements of modern medicine. Placebo has been a component of healing process since the beginning of our history. Given consciously or unconsciously is responsible for the success of medicine before randomized clinical trials. This article reviews the short history of placebos and gives series of examples of the effects and advocates a more rigorous approach to their understanding. The role and meaning of placebos in the clinical trials have been presented since its power has been discovered in the 1955. But we still know little about placebos. For that reason there is a necessity to study the effect of placebo with the same rigor that has been applied to other treatment. According to some authors, this effect particularly concerns psychological and neurological diseases with signs of restlessness, pain and depression. In these cases, effect of placebos may often exemplify as well as distort the evaluation of treatment and efficacy of the drug. Those being engaged in clinical trials must recognize and manage the reality of placebos rather than the attempt to eliminate or disparage them.
authors.affiliation: Kliniki Otolaryngologii Akademii Medycznej we Wrocławiu.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rostkowska-Nadolska
mesh_terms: D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D059408:Pain Management; D015990:Placebo Effect; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000628:therapy*