The Story of the Placebo Effect

The placebo effect is the phenomenon where someone derives a benefit after receiving a sham treatment. This is the story of how scientists learned wha the placebo effect is and how they utilized it in clinical trials. Make sure to check out the sources for recommended reading!

☠️NONE OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE USED AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR OPINION. IT IS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT☠️

🔗 L I N K S 🔗

🔑 P A T R O N S 🔑
Oxytocin Tier: Mike W | Joanne K | Jim C Jr. | Jody O | Paul R
Growth Hormone Tier: Dane M | Brendan P | Brandon K | Richardion G | Joe B | Mindi F | Sal F | Michael G | Brian B | Eileen H | Waffles the Dog | Brian T | Brian H | Michael R | Karen S | Sarah B | Robin B | Jacob S | Hyeon-S | Pranav M | Paul | Lucy Fur | huynhy | elnombre91 | Alcedo | Magmania | Josef K | Kyle K | Dab Brills | Robert M | Kristal C | Unsalted Pecan | Jiggs | TierZoo | Skasi | Jane G | Jack M | Hailey H | Matthew B | Michelle J | Helena SB | Eric L | Marshall K | David S | Ryne CJ | Radomir K | Kilian | Dean M | Ben | Cody S | Michelle L | Joseph G | Aryan Y | GD Annin | Vic K | Becca S | StealthyInk | Jesse B | Aleksander F

📜 S O U R C E S 📜

💻 C O N T A C T 💻

⌛T I M E S T A M P S ⌛
0:00 intro
0:47 Cullen and early placebo
2:50 Haygarth and Perkins Tractors
6:47 Beecher and The Powerful Placebo
9:40 How does placebo effect work in the brain?
17:20 The Nocebo effect

#historyofmedicine #medicalhistory

[PatKellyTeaches]

Check out the recommended reading for this one. Placebos by Kathryn T Hall was an especially helpful primer for this topic.

[H-iq]

As a child I would announce that I had farted when I really hadn’t and people would hallucinate a smell. It was crazy.

[lexilou]

When my mum was dying from pneumonia, she was convinced she needed a certain medicine, I can't remember which. For context, the doctors didn't know she was dying at the time. I asked the doctor if they could give her a placebo, just to relieve her distress. They agreed. She died a couple of days later (from her illnesses, not placebo). I feel so much guilt to this day that I lied to her, but I know it was for her own peace of mind.

[carrie.m]

I used to have bad headaches because of rhinitis, and I always had yoghurt right after taking the painkiller. I noticed that after a while, just eating the yoghurt made me feel a bit better. I Pavloved myself with yoghurt placebo. (It didn't stop the pain completely, but it helped)

This reminds me of my grandmother who was a hypochondriac and her doctor gave her plenty of placebos. It really works!

[MedlifeCrisis]

Awesome video man. Loved hearing the historical perspective. I’m genuinely considering my first merch – a line of entirely placebo health supplements 😅

[snafu]

William Smellie looks so tired of the smelly willy jokes

[apeacebone]

It's wild to me that it's possible to feel the placebo effect even if you KNOW what you're taking isn't real. The mind, the body, our memories, our perception... what an incredible system we are.

[DozyBinsh]

I can't hear the word 'Naloxone' without hearing Benoit Blanc in my head say, "the life-savin' antidote."

[britsticher]

My parents are pharmacists. When they were first practicing it was common if a patient came back saying a drug wasn't working to send them away with some 'new' pills, which were actually the same drug just a different colour. There are also clinical studies that show that red anti depressants are more effective than blue ones.

Even now they get patients regularly telling them that their new/old pills are better when all that's happened is that either there's been a packaging change or a new brand but the same drugs.

[revenevan]

Hopefully ethical use of placebo can help us fight the progression of antibiotic resistance via overprescription. Too many people want one "just to feel better" when they have a virus 🤦‍♂️😫
That said, a bigger culprit for resistance is the unethical side of agriculture industry abusing the heck out of them, which this guy goes into phenomenal detail on the history of in his antibiotics series!

[blessedwhitney]

I wish you had gone into more detail about how placebos can still work even when you know it's a placebo.

[Abby_Liu]

babe wake up new pat kelly video just dropped

[anomalouswoof]

Placebo is the number 1 treatment prescribed for hypochondriosis 😅

[sharonkaczorowski]

Laughed so hard my ribs hurt from “rich people nonsense.” The mind is a powerful and at times a scary place. I have had, based on symptoms, fibromyalgia since age twelve (triggered by drowning). Until recently it was considered a disorder of hysterical women seeking attention. It left me with very mixed feelings about placebos, among other issues. Became even worse when I developed many other conditions after surviving bacterial meningitis at 50 (23 years ago). I could write a book in the positive consequences for a patient of a caring compassionate provider and the negative consequences of one who is not. It took years to find the good ones and frankly the process of getting there was incredibly stressful for someone already stressed by severe constant pain. Great presentation…learned a lot, which always makes me happy.

[ymgisi]

The fact that placebos work at all, ever, throws a big wrench in our materialist theories of consciousness in my opinion.

[jake-the-snake-dishwashers]

Very much appreciated the Legally Blonde reference!

[ketsuekikumori]

On the one hand, wtf does a placebo cost $25?! On the other, having it be expensive does lend it some legitimacy, similar to how we equate cost for quality.

[RedTail-]

Messing with people's pain is so messed up... As someone who has been suffering from slipped and herniated discs for the last 15 years, without any medicine for many many of those years. Then when it was at it's worst after reinjury, being given Tylenol that messed up my liver and gave no relief. I can't imagine having surgery and then being given NOTHING. TWICE. Being given naloxone that makes the pain worse?... I've already been in so much agony for so long I was seriously considering ending it just to escape the pain.. I'd absolutely throw a fit and have heads on platters. Yeah your experiment doesn't work if they know, but giving someone something they expect to help with pain, knowing that does nothing, or with naloxone does the OPPOSITE. That's absolutely criminal. Do those tests on your own family and see how you feel about it after.

[wj]

Thanks for talking about the nocebo effect!