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Monday, October 3, 2011

Weaker than average placebo effect in ME/CFS

The Placebo Response in the Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Results: The pooled placebo response was 19.6% (95% confidence interval, 15.4–23.7), lower than predicted and lower than in some other medical conditions. The meta-regression revealed that intervention type significantly contributed to the heterogeneity of placebo response (p = .03).

Conclusion: In contrast with the conventional wisdom, the placebo response in CFS is low. Psychological-psychiatric interventions were shown to have a lower placebo response, perhaps linked to patient expectations.
(via)
Who would have thought that, huh? "Conventional wisdom" fails again. So conventional wisdom is the opposite to knowledge? I guess this confirms my bias that "psychosomatic medicine" is just "conventional wisdom" – and not science.

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