Here is some more quite interesting information from the same source. Jeannie
Jaded Junker wrote: > FLYING UNDER THE RADAR > > Health Sciences Institute e-Alert > > July 25, 2002 > > ************************************************************** > > Dear Reader, > > Placebo. As a pharmaceutical research tool it's dismissed as > nothing but a sugar pill. What could be more innocuous or > benign? Even the sound of the word is comforting somehow. In > fact, it comes from the Latin word meaning "I shall please." > Everything about the word is guileless. > > Or so I thought. If you're like me, you'll be shocked - actually > more like flabbergasted - to find out that drug research trials > bring a whole new meaning to the old Latin idea of "I shall > please." > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > Take two SweetTarts and call me in the morning > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > There was a time long ago when doctors would prescribe phony > medication - sugar pills - to their patients who they regarded > as hypochondriacs. They called the pills "placebo" and when the > patients reported positive results the idea of the placebo > effect was born. > > These days, placebo pills are used in clinical trials to measure > the true effect of a drug or supplement. They are thought to be > made of inert substances designed to have no effect. That's the > idea, anyway. But consider this: there's no such thing really as > an inert substance. For instance, placebo pills are still called > sugar pills. Is sugar inert? Far from it, of course. If you take > a sugar pill, your body will have a reaction, especially if you > happen to have an insulin disorder. But if you're given that > same pill as part of a drug research trial, your reaction > becomes a factor in the research. > > That may seem like nothing (what real difference could a little > boost of sugar make?) but sugar and other supposedly inactive > ingredients are not the problem. Not in the least. > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > Not exactly what we thought it was > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > When a pharmaceutical company tests its products, where do you > suppose they get placebo pills? Do they place an order with a > placebo pill manufacturer? Or does Nestle's candy company run a > little side business to supply researchers with sugar pills? > > Would it surprise you to learn that drug companies make their > own placebo pills for research purposes? And that THEY choose > the ingredients? And sometimes they purposely put ingredients > into the placebos that match those in the drug and will affect > the outcome of the trial. And they are not required to disclose > the ingredients they use. > > Does that sound "inert" or "inactive" to you? Suddenly the idea > of a "sugar pill" doesn't seem so innocent anymore. > > Before conducting human trials for drugs, pharmaceutical > companies are often fully aware of many of the side effects of > the products they're testing. So, for instance, if a drug is > known to cause dizziness and hypertension, the drug company > running the test wants the placebo to have the same side > effects. And they have an explanation for this. They say the > placebo should mimic the drug being tested so that the control > group of the experiment will have side effects similar to the > placebo group. Without that, they claim, the results of a blind > study would be compromised. > > There are plenty of gray areas to debate in that logic, but for > the moment let's focus on the idea of what they call an "active > placebo," designed to mimic the side effects of a tested drug. > And with that in mind let's look at an advertising campaign for > the allergy medication called Claritin. In all their TV spots, > when it comes to the moment to list the side effects, the > voice-over says, "The most common side effects with Claritin, > including headache, drowsiness, fatigue and dry mouth, occurred > about as often as they did with a sugar pill." > > A sugar pill? Really? Just what kind of "sugar pill" were they > using that caused headache, drowsiness, fatigue and dry mouth? > Sounds to me like a sugar pill with a little something added. > But they want us to believe that their powerful medication will > produce side effects no more serious than what you'd get with a > little dab of sugar. > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > The cat is still in the bag > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > I have to thank HSI Panelist Dr. Allan Spreen, MD, who first > tipped me off about the little-known world of placebos. Since > then, we've also spoken with Dr. Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, an > assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, > San Diego, who has been actively fighting the research > establishment's claim that placebos are inactive substances. Dr. > Golomb wants scientists to provide a list of placebo ingredients > so trial results can be properly evaluated. > > To level the playing field, Dr. Golomb suggests that drug > companies start divulging all placebo ingredients. She also > recommends that a standardized set of placebos be developed that > would have known and predictable side effects. This would go a > long way toward eliminating the pharmaceutical industry's > cynical manipulation of test data. > > As you might suspect, the drug companies are not very receptive > to her idea of letting go of this aspect of product testing that > they have full control over. > > Meanwhile, what about physicians and researchers who work > independently from the pharmaceutical giants - do they know the > truth about placebos supplied by drug companies? Right now it's > hard to tell just how widespread this knowledge is. According to > the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine > at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the placebo effect > is defined as "desirable physiological or psychological effects > attributable to the use of inert medications." From that > statement it would appear that the NIH either believes that > placebos are genuinely inactive, or they're not saying. > > Or maybe they're just feeling drowsy, dizzy, irritable and > nauseous from a sugar pill someone gave them. -- One thing you can't recycle is wasted time. Jeannie McReynolds Oregon Coast -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. Instructions for unsubscribing may be found at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
