Alternative medicine practitioners love the placebo effect. To many of them, it is proof that the mind can heal the body through the power of positive thinking. While that is a tempting narrative, it ...

Placebo genetics: The placebo effect, in which inert pills and sham surgeries result in patients that claim they feel better is one of the most consistent confounders of medical studies: it's always ...

The placebo effect works even when patients know they are taking a fake, new research shows. And another study says Facebook could help addicts kick the habit. The placebo science came out of an ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . I am thrilled to introduce our cover story this month, “‘Exploring the Power of Their Mind’: Data May Offer ...

Your response to placebos, or dummy medicine, may depend on your genes, according to a new study. People with a gene variant that codes for higher levels of the brain ...

The placebo effect, in which people experience health benefits from inactive medications, thrives on great expectations. According to a new study of placebo-induced reduction of anxiety, such ...

Much of medicine is based on what is considered the strongest possible evidence: The placebo-controlled trial. A new study calls into question this foundation upon which much of medicine rests, by ...

People who take a placebo, sometimes called a "dummy pill," along with their regular over-the-counter pain medication may get additional relief from their low-back pain, even if they know the placebo ...

Sticking needles in someone’s body is not a placebo therapy, or at least not an effective one, argue two letters in today’s issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. From personal experience I’d argue ...