title: Understanding and harnessing placebo effects: clearing away the underbrush.
abstract: Despite strong growth in scientific investigation of the placebo effect, understanding of this phenomenon remains deeply confused. We investigate critically seven common conceptual distinctions that impede clear understanding of the placebo effect: (1) verum/placebo, (2) active/inactive, (3) signal/noise, (4) specific/nonspecific, (5) objective/subjective, (6) disease/illness, and (7) intervention/context. We argue that some of these should be eliminated entirely, whereas others must be used with caution to avoid bias. Clearing away the conceptual underbrush is needed to lay down a path to understanding and harnessing placebo effects in clinical medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 1C118, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. fmiller@nih.gov
authors.forename: Franklin G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brody
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015990:Placebo Effect; D016896:Treatment Outcome