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More than 95% of doctors prescribe placebo in place of medicine
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
People are used to blindly trusting their doctors and sometimes even do not pay attention to what medications they are recommended for treatment. Researchers from the UK published interesting and absolutely unexpected data: it turns out that about 95% of British doctors from time to time prescribe to their patients a placebo instead of drugs. At the moment, specialists are interested in the choice of treatment with the help of "dummies".
Placebo is absolutely harmless drugs, but at the same time, they do not bring any benefit to the health of the patient. Doctors in the UK reported that in 10-12% of cases they prescribed lactose tablets, sugar tablets or saline injections to patients.
The effect after taking such "medicinal" drugs is based only on the blind and pure belief of the patient due to medicine. Specialists from the University of Oxford interviewed about 800 attending physicians who examine more than 100 patients weekly. The results of the survey showed that every tenth doctor at least several times, during the entire professional career, prescribed a placebo to the patient. Every 100th British physician, according to polls, appoints a placebo to his patients at least once a week.
One of the leaders of the research is sure that such actions are carried out by doctors not in order to somehow deceive the patients or support the placebo manufacturers. Many modern specialists of Great Britain hold the opinion that such drugs actually can help patients and doctors actively use placebo, being sure of the benefits of prescribed medicine.
Most doctors who prescribe a placebo patient, allow constant use of such drugs by patients. Doctors prescribe a placebo in order to alleviate the suffering of patients, thinking about the psychological healing effect that occurs after using a dummy medication. Doctors believe that self-hypnosis in some cases may be more effective than real medications.
Read the text: Placebo and nocebo in the treatment of back pain
Placebo is a drug that does not have pronounced medicinal properties, but which is used as a medicine. The effect of the drug is directly related to the self-hypnosis and blind faith of the patient in his ability to help in the treatment of the disease. Lactose, sugar, glucose or saline are often used as the main substance in placebo. Many experts are inclined to believe that a placebo should be used to treat chronic diseases. They believe that with the help of placebo drugs, you can determine whether the disease is not psychosomatic.
Experts around the world at the moment could not come to any definite agreed opinion on the placebo. Such drugs, on the one hand, can not harm the patient. On the other hand, treatment with placebo alone can not be called effective and, in the absence of necessary medications, can cause complications of the disease. The most progressive is the opinion of some modern physicians who are sure that a placebo should be used only in combination with traditional medicines.
The degree of manifestation of the placebo effect depends on the disease, suggestibility of a person, and also on a medicinal product. Specialists noted that the more difficult it is to get the drug and the higher its price, the more effective the "treatment" subsequently becomes. At the subconscious level, people are sure that a medicine that is not generally available can not be completely useless.