You guys probably know what "the placebo effect" means. I have recently heard and read that it is getting more difficult over time to surpass its effectiveness in drug testing. Does anyone know about this or have any speculation with regard to this? Either placebo is getting better than medicine, or drugs are getting worse. It seems like the same thing, but the difference has a fairly large impact.
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Well, my interest stems from watching this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P0LGFkaaMA
He mentions it briefly, but I decided to just quickly look it up at Wikipedia. I am reading through and come across:
A further issue of concern to pharmaceutical companies is that the effectiveness of placebos has increased over time,[197] thus making it more difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of new drugs. The reason for the increased effectiveness is disputed.
(Under "Placebo-controlled Studies.")
So, I think the references are very very general. I guess if there were specific differences between cancer treatments and pain, then there is obviously more depth to this than I already guessed. I also wonder if it is specific to what the placebo is supposed to be simulating. Is placebo pain-relief much easier to achieve than a cancer remission? It seems a lot more sensible. I'm curious about the entirety of the possibilities and the phenomena in general, wherever it is found that the placebo effect has become more effective than other treatments.
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