Study Casts Doubt on the Placebo Effect: “[I] n a new report that is being met with a mixture of astonishment and

sometimes disbelief, two Danish researchers say the placebo effect is a

myth… The report found no support for

the common notion that, in general, about a third of patients will

improve if they are given a dummy pill and told it is real.

Instead, the researchers theorize, patients seem to improve after taking

placebos because most diseases have uneven courses in which their

severity waxes and wanes. In studies in which treatments are compared

not just with placebos but also with no treatment at all, they said,

participants given no treatment improve at about the same rate as

participants given placebos.” New York Times