The placebo effect is a phenomenon in which a person's symptoms or well-being improve after receiving a fake treatment that has no specific or intrinsic effect on their condition.
For example, a person may feel less pain after taking a sugar pill that they believe is a painkiller, or they may feel more energetic after receiving an injection of saline soluti ... Show More
Today
What are the most bizarre obsessions of the ultra-rich?
Private snow rooms, attempts to slow ageing, frozen bodies and luxury bunkers. When money is no object, even the limits of life can become something to spend a fortune trying to overcome. What’s a snow room? As well as climate what else do the ultra rich try to manage? And how fa ... Show More
4m 24s
Today
Why are Gen Z “revenge quitting” their jobs?
Have you ever been so fed up at work that you wanted to not only quit your job, but also make a statement while doing so? Well, that’s a workplace trend that’s really been on the rise in 2025, so much so that it’s been given its own name: revenge quitting. Fortune magazine says t ... Show More
5 m
Today
Why are there more cancer deaths than ever before?
It’s not something we like to dwell on too often, but the chance for each of us getting some kind of cancer during our lifetime is significant. After all, it's the second leading cause of death worldwide according to the World Health Organisation, just behind heart disease. Cance ... Show More
6m 10s
Apr 2020
Will a placebo boost my sports performance?
<p>In medicine, it’s long been recognised that a placebo, a sham medicine or treatment, can have a powerful positive effect on a patient’s health. Part of that effect relies on a person’s belief that an inactive substance or treatment (for example, a sugar pill) is in fact an act ... Show More
26m 27s
Feb 2022
23. Is the Placebo Effect for Real?
In Latin, the word “placebo” means “I shall please.” In the medical world, placebos mean something … well, a little different. Bapu Jena walks us through the thorny world of placebo research and the implications the placebo effect can have for patients. Hosted by Simplecast, an A ... Show More
36m 18s