A new study published in JAMA Network Open reveals that placebos can help relieve chronic back pain, even when patients know they are taking a placebo.
This surprising finding offers a new way to treat pain without deception and could provide a fresh option for pain management.
Placebos are typically used in clinical trials as a “fake” treatment to see how well real treatments work. Usually, patients don’t know they’re receiving a placebo, but in this study, researchers wanted to see if placebos could still be effective when patients were fully aware.
The study focused on chronic back pain (CBP), which affects many people and can be difficult to treat.
More than 100 patients with chronic back pain participated in the study. They were all told they would receive a saline injection, which was a placebo with no active ingredients.
The researchers were honest with the patients, explaining that placebos could still activate the body’s natural healing processes.
Remarkably, the results showed that the placebo injection not only reduced pain but also improved patients’ mood, sleep, and the way their brain regulated pain. Some of these improvements lasted for at least a year.
Dr. Yoni K. Ashar, the lead author of the study and assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, explained that placebos affect how the brain processes pain.
Brain scans from the patients showed less activity in the areas of the brain responsible for feeling pain and more activity in areas that help control or block pain.
The researchers used brain imaging technology called functional MRI to see how the brain changed before and after the treatment.
The results showed that the placebo helped increase connections with a part of the brain that releases opioids—chemicals that naturally reduce pain. Dr. Ashar compared this response to the brain’s reaction during a fight, when the body might ignore pain temporarily to focus on survival.
The placebo seems to activate this same response, helping the brain block pain signals.
This study is important because it shows that placebos can be prescribed honestly, without the need for trickery. Many doctors view the use of placebos as unethical since they typically involve deception.
However, this research suggests that patients can still benefit from placebos, even when they know it’s not a real treatment.
Dr. Ashar believes this study shows the power of healing rituals. Even though the injection didn’t contain any medicine, the act of receiving it in a medical setting still helped patients feel better.
This could open up new possibilities for safe, low-cost pain management without the need for medication.
If you care about pain, please read studies about vitamin K deficiency linked to hip fractures in old people, and these vitamins could help reduce bone fracture risk.
For more information about wellness, please see recent studies that Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people, and eating yogurt linked to lower frailty in older people.
Source: CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
