WATERMARK

a poet’s notebook

Established 02004

Chronic fatigue patients show lower response to placebos

Contrary to conventional wisdom, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
respond to placebos at a lower rate than people with many other
illnesses, according to the first systematic review of the topic.

According to the new analysis by Dr. Hyong Jin Cho of King’s
College London and colleagues, 19.6 percent of patients with chronic
fatigue syndrome improved after receiving inactive treatments, compared
with a widely accepted figure of about 30 percent for other conditions.

Because the placebo effect seems to be strongest in diseases
with highly subjective symptoms, some medical professionals believed it
could be as high as 50 percent among CFS patients.

The review, reported in the current issue of Psychosomatic
Medicine, pooled data from 29 studies in which 1,016 people with CFS
received various placebos. . .

Via Chronic Fatiguers’ Journal

I often wonder if the many physicians who told their multiple sclerosis patients that it was all in their minds ever apologized.

2 responses to “Chronic fatigue patients show lower response to placebos”

  1. Sylvia Avatar
    Sylvia

    …and the AIDS patients and the consumption patients and the polio patients… Yes, doctors actually told parents their little kids were faking paralysis and just didn’t want to go to school. Mind boggling.

    Reply
  2. gingerivers Avatar
    gingerivers

    One would hope they appologized!

    Reply

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