Meaningful Placebos - Controlling the Uncontrollable.
Summary of "Meaningful Placebos - Controlling the Uncontrollable."
In this issue of the Journal, Wechsler et al.(1) report data from a study that compared four interventions involving patients with asthma (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01143688). They found that three of the interventions - active albuterol, sham albuterol, and sham acupuncture - were all equally effective in controlling asthma symptoms, as judged by patient-reported improvement. In contrast, lung function was improved only in those given active albuterol, as measured by an increase in the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)). The fourth intervention was "no treatment," in which patients were told to wait for several hours and then . . .
Affiliation
From the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: The New England journal of medicine
ISSN: 1533-4406
Pages: 171-172
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21751911
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMe1104010
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Placebos
Any dummy medication or treatment. Although placebos originally were medicinal preparations having no specific pharmacological activity against a targeted condition, the concept has been extended to include treatments or procedures, especially those administered to control groups in clinical trials in order to provide baseline measurements for the experimental protocol.
Communication Barriers
Those factors, such as language or sociocultural relationships, which interfere in the meaningful interpretation and transmission of ideas between individuals or groups.
Recreation Therapy
The enhancement of physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills so an individual may participate in chosen activities. Recreational modalities are used in designed intervention strategies, incorporating individual's interests to make the therapy process meaningful and relevant.
Soft Tissue Injuries
Injuries of tissue other than bone. The concept is usually general and does not customarily refer to internal organs or viscera. It is meaningful with reference to regions or organs where soft tissue (muscle, fat, skin) should be differentiated from bones or bone tissue, as "soft tissue injuries of the hand".
Sex Preselection
Methods for controlling genetic SEX of offspring. It may include SEX DETERMINATION (GENETICS) and other means.
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