Placebos work even when people are told it is a placebo - Page 3

I have a question.

Is IBS clinically testable? 

Can a doctor take a blood/tissue/(whatever) sample and tell the patient that they have IBS?

I have been somewhat curious about this since IBS became the adult ADD... you know, all the cool kids have it, so does mine.

there is no diagnostic test for irritable bowel syndrome.

when you present to your doctor with these symptoms, he'll ask about your diet, whether you exercise, what you might've eaten that might give you upset bowels. then at this stage, he usually tells you to go to the pharmacy to pick up X, Y, Z just to see if they will give you the temporary relief that'll satisfy you.

but if you press the doctor and/or pharmacist more, there are tests to see whether there is anything like diverticulitis or bowel cancer or if there is a stomach that is causing bleeding into your gut etc...

and if that comes back negative, and you're still experiencing symptoms, the doctor will label it irritable bowel syndrome. born out of the need to label things because patients can't accept that they have some undefinable cause that's causing their symptoms, and so they want something to fix it.

IBS is a broad umbrella term for something that might be there or not be there, my honest opinion anyway. the best way to fix it is to eat better, and exercise more, drink less grog, smoke less, something everyone should be doing.

Two things.

1.  It does not work for most people.  It works for some people over taking nothing at all. 

That is, it's a "something is better than nothing" argument.  And that's fine.

2.  I did not type my last post out thoroughly.  Yes, the people given placebos know they are taking placebos. 

But because they receive the placebo from the doctor,

they know that they are doing as much as possible for their mediation

and thus resolve themselves to no longer thinking about the problem.  

This is not a pharmacology issue. 

Because obviously, the chemical compounds being discussed (sugar)

have nothing to do with "helping" the patient.

This is 100% about psychology.

Please understand that I'm not saying placebos don't work. 

They work; whether the patient knows or doesn't know, yes it works.

It will NEVER work for a non-psychological issue.  This is not up for debate. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnOYiN 

Funny thing here. I started typing pretty much the exact same thing you posted here. (before I realized that was not the point at all that is) However the article is not about the effectiveness of a placebo. It's about the effectiveness of placebos when people are aware of the fact that they are using placebos which is quite interesting.

Like I was saying it's quite interesting that even though you know you're fooling yourself it still works for most people.