placebo

Not All Scientific Studies are Useful

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 22:58:10 +0000

Why do we pursue science? Because we want to know what to eat, what medications to take, what cleaning agents to use, what chemicals to avoid, which personal care products to buy, what sort of exercise to engage in, and how to avoid disease. Basically, we want science to work for us with a goal of guiding us towards a healthy, problem-free long life. Yes, we also do have an innate curiosity for how the world works that prompts fundamental, non-goal oriented research, but here too, the hope is that somehow it will provide some practical benefit.

The ShamWow Fallacy or How Placebos Were Redefined

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:22:56 +0000

If I told you that an all-natural remedy performed just as well as a placebo in a clinical trial, how would you interpret that?

Proponents of so-called complementary and alternative medicine often clamour for large clinical trials to be done of their interventions like homeopathy and acupuncture and criticize the lack of money to conduct these studies. Very often, however, these studies have been conducted, but because the results were disappointing, they are easily swept under the carpet and wiped from their memory.

Placebos are harmless, right? Not always

Christopher Labos MD, MSc — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

This article was originally posted in the Montreal Gazette.

My last column on the placebo effect generated the same comment from two people. They suggested the next article should be on nocebos — that is, placebos that cause harm.

Placebo effect is real, and complicated

Christopher Labos MD, MSc — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:11:09 +0000

This article was originally posted in the Montreal Gazette.

The Legend of the Wartime Placebo

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 03:06:02 +0000

Facts rarely get in the way of a good story. There is a foundational myth in placebo research that has been repeated over and over again, sometimes with inexplicable flourishes, often with the variations one expects from a telephone game. You have probably read it in a mainstream publication. It’s the story of a doctor, working in dark times, who cannot do his job properly and accidentally discovers the power of the placebo to relieve pain. It is such a good story.

And it might not even be true.

Reassuring Data for Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:05:51 +0000

Pfizer and BioNTech’s RNA vaccine against COVID-19 has just been authorized by Health Canada. There will be many Internet whispers, half-truths and lies about how it works and how safe it is, so let’s delve into the recently released analysis of data from over 36,000 people who participated in the clinical trial.

The Right Chemistry: The Truth About Spirulina

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 19:39:13 +0000

Video of Dr. Joe Schwarcz: The truth about spirulina

Can we use eggshells to treat osteoarthritis?

Ada McVean B.Sc. — Thu, 17 May 2018 19:22:20 +0000

Si tu veux lire cet article en français, cliquez ici!

Oprah for President?

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 18:48:08 +0000

The U.S. is abuzz with chatter about Oprah for President. She makes a thoughtful, rousing, captivating speech at the Golden Globe Awards and people are ready to usher her into the Oval Office. But let’s not fling that door open quite yet, not before taking a look at the candidate’s ability to exercise sound judgement. Although there are several instances I could point out where Oprah’s judgement was suspect, her having devoted a program to the antics of “John of God” is particularly troublesome.

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 15:39:43 +0000

“Laughter is the best medicine!” That’s an old adage, maybe even dating back to the biblical era. The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament proposes that “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” An intriguing concept! Is there any science behind it? It seems there is. The body and the mind are connected. And that is just what we are going to explore in this year’s “Trottier Public Science Symposium” with speakers Drs. Marla Shapiro, Amir Raz and Patch Adams. Let’s get you started with a little laughter right here.

Get Ready for the Trottier Public Science Symposium

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 15:44:44 +0000

When John Milton wrote in Paradise Lost that the mind can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven, without realizing it, he was talking about the “placebo” and the “nocebo” effect. “Placebo” comes from the Latin “I will please” and refers to a situation whereby a beneficial effect on the body comes about as a result of mental activity. The classic example is relief of pain from a sugar pill when the patient believes that a real medication has been administered.

Does Glucosamine Really Work?

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:04:59 +0000

Osteoarthritis is a painful condition associated with the deterioration of cartilage, the flexible connective tissue that cushions the joints between bones. When cartilage wears away, bone painfully rubs on bone. The idea of using glucosamine to treat osteoarthritis stems from the observation that glucosamine formed naturally in the body is the precursor for the biosynthesis of glycosaminoglycans, major components of cartilage. Perhaps supplementing the body’s supply of glucosamine would help repair cartilage, the thinking went. But thinking, even if scientifically rational, is not evid

“Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:54:02 +0000

Sometimes beliefs are converted into fact just by repetition. We constantly hear of people who want to avoid monosodium glutamate because of a fear of being struck by “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” Restaurants have taken to posting signs declaring “No MSG added” to pacify their customers. This in spite of the fact that numerous controlled double blind studies have failed to show the existence of the so-called Chinese Restaurant Sydrome. Let me give you a typical example.

Vitamin D supplements in question

Ariel Fenster PhD — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 15:23:56 +0000

Study after study has shown that vitamin supplements do not offer any benefits over a well-balanced diet. In certain cases they may even be detrimental to health. In 1994, the National Cancer Institute, showed, after studying 29,000 Finnish men, all long-term smokers, that those receiving beta carotene supplements had an 18% increased risk of developing lung cancer. Two years later another study in the U.S. involving 18,000 subjects at risk indicated that those taking vitamin A and beta carotene had a 28% increased risk of developing lung cancer.

Can "Kombucha tea" prevent the flu?

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 04:41:38 +0000

While some people are looking to stockpile Tamiflu in case the bird flu strikes, a few others are placing their bets on a foul concoction with a folkloric history of curing everything from AIDS and baldness to flatulence and cancer. Kombucha tea is brewed by incubating a culture of bacteria and yeasts in sweetened black or green tea. The microbial culture, which is passed from believer to believer, ends up floating on top of the tea and resembles a mushroom, which is why sometimes the concoction is referred to as the Kombucha mushroom.