Placebo

Definition

A placebo is a substance with no therapeutic effect used as a control in testing new drugs. It helps to determine the efficacy of the actual drug being tested.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Placebos are often used in clinical trials to act as a control group.
2. The placebo effect occurs when patients experience improvements despite receiving a non-active treatment.
3. Placebos are crucial in double-blind studies where neither participants nor researchers know who receives the active treatment.
4. Ethically, participants must be informed they could receive a placebo when they consent to join a study.
5. Understanding placebos helps differentiate between psychological and physiological effects of treatments.

Review Questions

• What is the primary purpose of using a placebo in clinical trials?
• How does the placebo effect influence clinical trial results?
• Why are placebos important for double-blind studies?

Related terms

Clinical Trial: A research study performed on humans to evaluate medical, surgical, or behavioral interventions.

Double-Blind Study: An experimental procedure where neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the active treatment.

Control Group: In an experiment, this group does not receive the experimental treatment and is used for comparison against those that do.