Placebos are commonly known as the inert drugs — think sugar pills — that researchers use to measure the effects of real drugs. But research shows they can actually improve certain health conditions. ...

How would you define optimism? Would you call it seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty? Perhaps say optimism is a positive attitude or the ability to see the bright side of a situation.

When you were a child and fell playing outside, a single bandage — a placebo of sorts — could take away the pain. The placebo effect has long been somewhat of a medical mystery. While researchers ...

The placebo effect is a mysterious phenomenon that happens when someone’s medical symptoms are lessened through the power of suggestion and expectation – for instance if someone’s illness improves ...

YouTuber and physician Rohin Francis, MBBS, does a deep-dive on the power of placebo. The following is a partial transcript of this video; note that errors are possible. Francis: The placebo effect.

Placebos have occupied an increasingly awkward spot in the medical landscape over the last few decades. Even as placebo-controlled trials have become accepted as the gold standard for evidence, we’ve ...

Steve Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...