I have long been fascinated by the power of suggestion, and how our brains can essentially override our own reality when it’s strong enough.

There are extreme examples, like perfectly healthy people taking ill or even dying after believing themselves “cursed,” but we see a smaller one all the time – and it’s our brains making us believe we’re feeling different or better after receiving a placebo pill.

There is actually quite a bit of research that shows symptoms like pain, nausea, anxiety, and fatigue can all be lessoned by what is essentially a sugar pill – even if your doctor informs you that’s all it is.

Ted Kaptchuk, director of the Program for Placebo Studies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has been continuing to study this phenomenon.

So far, they have seen placebos improve the symptoms in irritable bowel patients as well as among people who report experiencing lower back pain.

The latter group included 83 three people who had back pain that wasn’t caused by cancer, fractures, infections, or any other known conditions.

Every participant was told that the placebo contained no medication, but that they should take them twice a day for three weeks.

Half of the group continued their previous pain management regimen, while the other half continued those treatments added the placebo.

The group who took the placebo saw their scores on all pain levels drop 30%, more than double what was reported by the other group. The control group saw no change in the difficulty they experienced performing daily activities, but the placebo group did.

They said their difficulties performing daily activities fell by 29%.

Jeremy Howick, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford, was not involved in the study.

“These kinds of studies show that a package of care that includes an ethical placebo can have a benefit. You might not need to deceive patients to get an effect.”

The bottom line seems to be that placebos can make people feel better.

There is also the fact that just interacting with a physician and having the opportunity to discuss their ailment can also help improve people’s health, according to Kaptchuk.

“It’s absolutely not the pill. It’s what surrounds the pill. That includes a trusting relationship between the doctor and patient.”

This was a small study, and they hope to replicate the results on a larger scale.

That said, he doubts that anything will change right away, even if they prove that placebos can have a positive effect on people’s health.

“It will take patients demanding it.”

I think we can all connect the dots as far as why the pharmaceutical industry might not like the idea that nothing could work as well as something, in the right situation.

But it certainly is nice to know.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.