Placebos work. Why?
For decades, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them.
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
For decades, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them. Not anymore: You can give patients placebos, tell them they’re on sugar pills, and they still might feel better. No one is sure how this works, but it raises a question: Should doctors embrace placebos in mainstream medicine? (First published in 2021.)
Guests: Ted Kaptchuk, professor at Harvard Medical School; Darwin Guevarra, professor of psychology at Miami University; Luana Colloca, professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! [email protected]
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices