Article appeared here at Scientific American.
This could be an important turning point for how we manage pharmaceuticals, particularly pain killers. Based on this study, the researchers suggest that “…larger US trials also use contract research organizations that can employ nurses who are dedicated to the trial patients… giving patients a very different experience compared to those who take part in a small trial run by an academic lab…” Imagine that, the quality of patient care is important in the effectiveness of the treatment? It’s well known that analgesic (and other) effects are brought about by our body’s own system (endogenous) or by adding extra from outside by medication (exogenous) and make no mistake, placebo effects have been shown to increase endogenous release of dopamine in Parkinsons patients amongst other very convincing findings. So if the quality of patient care boosts the endogenous system, perhaps it’s worth focusing in on that as well as spending (and charging) money to boost it artificially by pharmaceuticals.
This is one of those articles that is both frustrating and very encouraging – frustrating because the placebo effect is still being presented as a thorn in the pharmaceutical industry’s attempts at new drugs, but very exciting in terms of findings about effects of patient care. Now if only they could get funding to research the possibility of not needing drugs, but better trained health professionals … It is only one step further to investigate if attention and other mind training techniques for health professionals and patients might help boost the endogenous system without needing pharmacological intervention.
I do try to stay away from the political on this page, but it’s worth considering whether this kind of research is more or less likely to occur if the newly signed TPP is ratified by the respective governments.