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Text File  |  1992-09-02  |  568b  |  15 lines
  1. Latin `I will please' any harmless substance,
  2. often called a `sugar pill', that has no
  3. chemotherapeutic value and yet produces
  4. physiological changes. Its use in medicine is
  5. limited to drug trials, where it is given
  6. alongside the substance being tested, to
  7. compare effects. The `placebo effect', first
  8. named in 1945, demonstrates the control
  9. `mind' exerts over `matter', including
  10. causing changes in blood pressure, perceived
  11. pain, and rates of healing. Recent research
  12. finds the release of certain
  13. neurotransmitting substances in the
  14. production of the placebo effect.
  15.