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 active drug. Placebos come in many forms, and the scientific study of placebo is an ac ... Show More
Apr 2020
Covid 19 – The fightback in Africa begins
Nigeria has seen a small number of Covid -19 cases, largely spread amongst the most affluent, people who travel abroad, However there is concern about the potential of the virus to spread to overcrowded slum areas. In such conditions social distancing measures would be difficult ... Show More
58m 21s
Nov 2023
Jeremy Howick, "The Power of Placebos: Unlocking Their Potential to Improve Health Care" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)
Should your doctor prescribe a placebo for you, instead of conventional medicine? And if she did, would it work? Is the double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm really the gold standard for medical research?Placebos are the most widely used treatments in the history of medicine. ... Show More
34m 56s
Apr 2018
384 - Can the Placebo Effect Enhance Athletic Performance?
The placebo effect has been looked down on, scoffed at, and written off as useless because it is “all in your head.” But lately there has been a shift in that thinking, and we are starting to see the power that the placebo holds in athletic performance. Read the transcript at htt ... Show More
13m 53s