Science of the Placebo Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda

by Guess, Harry; Engel, Linda; Kleinman, Arthur; Kusek, John

• ISBN13: 9780727915948
• ISBN10: 0727915940
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-15
• Publisher: BMJ Books

Summary

Based on a meeting in November 2000, this book brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines to examine the biological, behavioral, social, cultural and ethical aspects related to the placebo effect. Perspectives on the necessity for including a placebo in randomized clinical trials will also be examined. This is the first attempt to examine the evidence-base of the placebo effect and will provide important information for clinicans.

Author Biography

Harry Guess is the editor of Science of the Placebo: Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda, published by Wiley.

Linda Engel is the editor of Science of the Placebo: Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda, published by Wiley.

Arthur Kleinman is the editor of Science of the Placebo: Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda, published by Wiley.

John Kusek is the editor of Science of the Placebo: Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda, published by Wiley.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Foreword
An Overview	p. 1
Historical and ethical perspectives	p. 33
"Seeing" the placebo effect: historical legacies and present opportunities	p. 35
Ethical issues in use of placebo in medical practice and clinical trials	p. 53
Elucidating placebo effects: explanatory mechanisms	p. 75
Explanatory mechanisms for placebo effects: cultural influences and the meaning response	p. 77
Explanatory mechanisms for placebo effects: cognition, personality and social learning	p. 108
Explanatory mechanisms for placebo effects: Pavlovian conditioning	p. 133
Regression to the mean or placebo effect?	p. 158
Elucidating placebo effects: intervening psychophysiology	p. 167
Neuroendocrine mediators of placebo effects on immunity	p. 169
Endogenous opioid and non-opioid pathways as mediators of placebo analgesia	p. 183
Use of placebo groups in clinical trials - methodological and ethical issues	p. 207
Placebo controlled trials and active controlled trials: ethics and inference	p. 209
When is it appropriate to use a placebo arm in a trial?	p. 227
The pros and cons of non-inferiority (equivalence) trials	p. 236
Use of placebo in large-scale, pragmatic trials	p. 249
Placebo controls in clinical trials of new therapies for conditions for which there are known effective treatments	p. 264
Priorities for future research	p. 281
The research and ethical agenda	p. 283
Recommendations for research to further elucidate the nature of the placebo effect	p. 286
Recommendations for research on applying placebo effects in clinical practice	p. 293
Recommendations for research concerning the use of placebos in clinical trials to test pharmacological and procedural interventions	p. 300
Recommendations for research concerning the use of placebos in clinical trials to test behavioral interventions	p. 306
Conclusions and future directions	p. 311
Conclusions and future directions	p. 313
Appendix	p. 317
Index	p. 323
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