ReviewPerspectives in biology and medicine2009
The placebo effect: illness and interpersonal healing.
Review in Perspectives in biology and medicine, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed.
- Efficacy evaluation of Chinese herbal medicine, VGH-BPH1, for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and crossover study.Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA · 2022Trial
- Joint Dysfunctionality Alleviation along with Systemic Inflammation Reduction Following Arthrocen Treatment in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Trial
- Treatment of Symptomatic Convergence Insufficiency in Children Enrolled in the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial-Attention & Reading Trial: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry · 2019Trial
- Feasibility of a Hybrid Web-Based and In-Person Self-management Intervention Aimed at Preventing Acute to Chronic Pain Transition After Major Lower Extremity Trauma (iPACT-E-Trauma): A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2019Trial
- Open-Label Placebo Treatment for Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Randomized-Controlled Clinical Trial.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- Assessment of the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Safety of Single Doses of TV-1106, a Long-Acting Growth Hormone, in Healthy Japanese and Caucasian Subjects.Clinical pharmacology in drug development · 2017Trial
- Trial
- An integrative medicine approach to asthma: who responds?Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2012Trial
- Placebos without deception: a randomized controlled trial in irritable bowel syndrome.PloS one · 2010Trial
- Article
- Patient-clinician communication and cardiovascular outcomes: An analysis of the hispanic community health study/study of latinos (HCHS/SOL), 2008-2019.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2026Article
- Adaptation and Validation of a Treatment Expectations Scale for Hospitalized Patients-Spanish Patient Version.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Placebo Effects: Neurological Mechanisms Inducing Physiological, Organic, and Belief Responses-A Prospective Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Platelet-rich plasma for patellar tendinopathy: a randomized controlled trial correlating clinical outcomes and quantitative imaging.Radiology advances · 2024Article
- Boosting open-label placebo effects in acute induced pain in healthy adults (BOLPAP-study): study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Exploring the scientific underpinnings of investigating safety signals: analytical insights in deciphering drug safety evidence.Frontiers in drug safety and regulation · 2024Article
- Article
- Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The alliance in mental health care: conceptualization, evidence and clinical applications.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2023Article
- Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The placebo effect has been a source of fascination, irritation, and confusion within biomedicine over the past 60 years. Although scientific investigation has accelerated in the past decade, with particular attention to neurobiological mechanisms, there has been a dearth of attention to developing a general theory of the placebo effect. In this article, we attempt to address this gap. To set the stage, we review evidence relating to the reality and clinical significance of the placebo effect. Next we investigate the scope and limits of the placebo effect by examining the hypothesis that the placebo effect operates predominantly by modifying the experience and perceptions of illness symptoms, such as pain, anxiety, and fatigue, rather than by modifying the pathophysiology of disease. Based on this background, we characterize the placebo effect as a form of interpersonal healing, as distinct from spontaneous natural healing and from technological healing dependent on physiologically active pharmaceuticals or procedures. Finally, we argue that research on the placebo effect has the potential to revitalize the art of medicine.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.