Asthma as a Model for Placebo Effects in Modern Medicine

Abstract

Many a clinical intervention thrives on placebos. Lack of consensus — both definitional and methodological — however, contributes to general confusion and specious conclusions regarding the legitimacy and relevance of placebos in modern medicine. The apparent divergence between objective and subjective treatment outcomes, moreover, renders placebos clinically meaningless. Asthma provides a clinical model for studying placebos because it highlights how psychology works in concert with pharmacology. Here we examine placebos as valuable adjuncts to, rather than replacements for, pharmacological treatments.