Placebo pill given without deception works well with IBS sufferers

It has been widely assumed that responses to placebo treatments require concealment or deception. A study conducted by Professor Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Centre was carried out on sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) where they were informed about the make up of the pills they were given during the study period.

"Not only did we make it absolutely clear that these pills had no active ingredient and were made from inert substances, but we actually had 'placebo' printed on the bottle," said Kaptchuk. "We told the patients that they didn't have to even believe in the placebo effect. Just take the pills."

The results demonstrated that the placebo pills were more effective at relieving symptoms compared to receiving no treatment.

"I didn't think it would work," says senior author Anthony Lembo of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an expert on IBS. "I felt awkward asking patients to literally take a placebo. But to my surprise, it seemed to work for many of them."

Scientific journal PLoS ONE - Guardian science