Medical Trials Ignore this Placebo Effect

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UMZDcwVLxeFvmkkX of @ Aug 10, 2009 11:30:40 AM

Nicotine Replacement - unblinded effects

There are many situations where it is very hard to have a suitable placebo. For example in Nicotine Replacement trials (using gum or patches) - how can a placebo mimick the effect of the nicotine which causes a significant stimulation of the nervous system. If I remember correctly the stronger the side-effects the greater the placebo response.

Mark Davis @ Jun 11, 2009 05:15:58 AM

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keydayirreway of AL @ Apr 14, 2009 19:10:21 PM

Testing of medicines on people

The bane of trusting statistics is that almost no test population is either truly homogenious, or constant in attributes,whether you are testing lifetime of light bulbs or of people. A random coin toss recorded on checkerboard squares will usually show a 'cluster' - an area of all heads or tails that seems non-random.

The growing ability to find correlation of genetic profile with disease susceptibility strongly suggests that positive or negative effects -at the level of a few percent may often be measuring the effects of different genetics more than of response to disease. EZ

Ed Zebroski of CA @ Dec 28, 2007 21:49:09 PM

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Thinking Harder

This blog is the public workshop of U.S. News writer and editor Ben Harder. In articles published in the magazine, he has covered a range of sciences, including medicine, human behavior, prehistory, and evolution. Here, he can explore those and other scientific fields more fully and more informally than is possible in print. He'll share whatever seems noteworthy or potentially useful, and he invites readers to do the same.

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On Feb. 24, 2008, Ben discussed the link between artificial light and cancer on WTOP radio. Listen to the interview at WTOP News. He again talked about light pollution on WTOP on March 22, exploring its environmental effects.

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