Sure, they swallowed a placebo pill, but in the original placebo study, they didn't eat until they got well! The control group took patent medicine, ate meals, and died! Brilliant!
1822 - Dr. Isaac Jennings, after practicing as a traditional medical doctor for 20 years without getting good results, using the common bleeding and drugging methods of that time, started to question these practices. As an experiment, he gave his patients bread pill placebos with instructions to get plenty of bed rest, to take the pills with water and to take no other food and drink. In other words, he fasted his patients (without their knowing it), and he got excellent results. Being convinced of the remarkable recoveries obtained by the "Do Nothing Cure", he announced his revelation to the world, only to have it poorly received. Some of his patients got angry that they were given placebos and not true "medicines', and the medical doctors were not eager to embrace a system that did not revolve around their accustomed pills and potions. Despite the lack of acceptance, Jennings went on to write three books and became known as The Father of Natural Hygiene." -- The study that supposedly proves aspirin are good for the heart has people drinking water to swallow their aspirin, people who normally only drink corporate water substitutes. Two teaspoons of water change their lives, but aspirin get all the credit!
