FolioStart free

Neuroscience · Literature

Research papers on The placebo effect

Recent and highly-cited academic work on the placebo effect, gathered from Semantic Scholar, CrossRef and OpenAlex.

Search all 200M+ papers on this topic, free →Or track new the placebo effect papers automatically as they publish

  1. Risks and Benefits of Estrogen Plus Progestin in Healthy Postmenopausal Women: Principal Results From the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Trial

    Writing Group for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators · 2002 · JAMA · 15,923 citations

    CONTEXT: Despite decades of accumulated observational evidence, the balance of risks and benefits for hormone use in healthy postmenopausal women remains uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To assess the major health benefits and risks of the most commonly used combined hormone preparation in the United States. DESIGN: Estrogen plus progestin component of the Women's Health Initiative, a randomized controlled primary prevention trial (planned duration, 8.5 years) in which 16608 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years with an intact uterus at baseline were recruited by 40 US clinical centers in 1993-1998. INTERVENTIONS: Participants received conjugated equine estrogens, 0.625 mg/d, plus medroxyprogesterone a

    Save this paper

  2. The Effect of Spironolactone on Morbidity and Mortality in Patients with Severe Heart Failure

    Bertram Pitt, Faı̈ez Zannad, Willem J. Remme, et al. · 1999 · New England Journal of Medicine · 9,181 citations

    BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Aldosterone is important in the pathophysiology of heart failure. In a doubleblind study, we enrolled 1663 patients who had severe heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction of no more than 35 percent and who were being treated with an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor, a loop diuretic, and in most cases digoxin. A total of 822 patients were randomly assigned to receive 25 mg of spironolactone daily, and 841 to receive placebo. The primary end point was death from all causes. RESULTS: The trial was discontinued early, after a mean follow-up period of 24 months, because an interim analysis determined that spironolactone was efficacious. There were 386

    Save this paper

  3. SPIRIT 2013 explanation and elaboration: guidance for protocols of clinical trials

    A.-W. Chan, Jennifer Tetzlaff, Peter C Gøtzsche, et al. · 2013 · BMJ · 7,119 citations

    High quality protocols facilitate proper conduct, reporting, and external review of clinical trials. However, the completeness of trial protocols is often inadequate. To help improve the content and quality of protocols, an international group of stakeholders developed the SPIRIT 2013 Statement (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials). The SPIRIT Statement provides guidance in the form of a checklist of recommended items to include in a clinical trial protocol. This SPIRIT 2013 Explanation and Elaboration paper provides important information to promote full understanding of the checklist recommendations. For each checklist item, we provide a rationale and detailed

    Save this paper

  4. Implications of Recent Clinical Trials for the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Guidelines

    Scott M. Grundy, James I. Cleeman, C. Noel Bairey Merz, et al. · 2004 · Circulation · 6,939 citations

    The Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program issued an evidence-based set of guidelines on cholesterol management in 2001. Since the publication of ATP III, 5 major clinical trials of statin therapy with clinical end points have been published. These trials addressed issues that were not examined in previous clinical trials of cholesterol-lowering therapy. The present document reviews the results of these recent trials and assesses their implications for cholesterol management. Therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) remain an essential modality in clinical management. The trials confirm the benefit of cholesterol-lowering therapy in high-risk patients an

    Save this paper

  5. A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Subcutaneous Semaglutide in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

    Philip N. Newsome, Kristine Buchholtz, Kenneth Cusi, et al. · 2020 · New England Journal of Medicine · 1,982 citations

    BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common disease that is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, but treatment options are limited. The efficacy and safety of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist semaglutide in patients with NASH is not known. METHODS: We conducted a 72-week, double-blind phase 2 trial involving patients with biopsy-confirmed NASH and liver fibrosis of stage F1, F2, or F3. Patients were randomly assigned, in a 3:3:3:1:1:1 ratio, to receive once-daily subcutaneous semaglutide at a dose of 0.1, 0.2, or 0.4 mg or corresponding placebo. The primary end point was resolution of NASH with no worsening of fibrosis. The confirmatory secondary end

    Save this paper

  6. A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Pioglitazone in Subjects with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

    Renata Belfort, Stephen A. Harrison, Kenneth Brown, et al. · 2006 · New England Journal of Medicine · 1,826 citations

    BACKGROUND: No pharmacologic therapy has conclusively proved to be effective for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which is characterized by insulin resistance, steatosis, and necroinflammation with or without centrilobular fibrosis. Pioglitazone is a thiazolidinedione that ameliorates insulin resistance and improves glucose and lipid metabolism in type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: We randomly assigned 55 patients with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes and liver biopsy-confirmed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis to 6 months of treatment with a hypocaloric diet (a reduction of 500 kcal per day in relation to the calculated daily intake required to maintain body weight) pl

    Save this paper

  7. Targeting PI3K in cancer: mechanisms and advances in clinical trials

    Jing Yang, Ji Nie, Xuelei Ma, et al. · 2019 · Molecular Cancer · 1,578 citations

    Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is one of the most important intracellular pathways, which can be considered as a master regulator for cancer. Enormous efforts have been dedicated to the development of drugs targeting PI3K signaling, many of which are currently employed in clinical trials evaluation, and it is becoming increasingly clear that PI3K inhibitors are effective in inhibiting tumor progression. PI3K inhibitors are subdivided into dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors, pan-PI3K inhibitors and isoform-specific inhibitors. In this review, we performed a critical review to summarize the role of the PI3K pathway in tumor development, recent PI

    Save this paper

  8. Is the Placebo Powerless?

    Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, Peter C Gøtzsche · 2001 · New England Journal of Medicine · 1,515 citations

    BACKGROUND: Placebo treatments have been reported to help patients with many diseases, but the quality of the evidence supporting this finding has not been rigorously evaluated. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of clinical trials in which patients were randomly assigned to either placebo or no treatment. A placebo could be pharmacologic (e.g., a tablet), physical (e.g., a manipulation), or psychological (e.g., a conversation). RESULTS: We identified 130 trials that met our inclusion criteria. After the exclusion of 16 trials without relevant data on outcomes, there were 32 with binary outcomes (involving 3795 patients, with a median of 51 patients per trial) and 82 with continuous o

    Save this paper

  9. Components of placebo effect: randomised controlled trial in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

    Ted J. Kaptchuk, John M. Kelley, Lisa Conboy, et al. · 2008 · BMJ · 1,208 citations

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether placebo effects can experimentally be separated into the response to three components-assessment and observation, a therapeutic ritual (placebo treatment), and a supportive patient-practitioner relationship-and then progressively combined to produce incremental clinical improvement in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. To assess the relative magnitude of these components. DESIGN: A six week single blind three arm randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Academic medical centre. PARTICIPANTS: 262 adults (76% women), mean (SD) age 39 (14), diagnosed by Rome II criteria for and with a score of > or =150 on the symptom severity scale. INTERVENTIONS: For three

    Save this paper

  10. A Comprehensive Review of the Placebo Effect: Recent Advances and Current Thought

    Donald D. Price, Damien G. Finniss, Fabrizio Benedetti · 2007 · Annual Review of Psychology · 1,162 citations

    Our understanding and conceptualization of the placebo effect has shifted in emphasis from a focus on the inert content of a physical placebo agent to the overall simulation of a therapeutic intervention. Research has identified many types of placebo responses driven by different mechanisms depending on the particular context wherein the placebo is given. Some placebo responses, such as analgesia, are initiated and maintained by expectations of symptom change and changes in motivation/emotions. Placebo factors have neurobiological underpinnings and actual effects on the brain and body. They are not just response biases. Other placebo responses result from less conscious processes, such as cl

    Save this paper

  11. Neurobiological Mechanisms of the Placebo Effect

    Fabrizio Benedetti, Helen S. Mayberg, Tor D. Wager, et al. · 2005 · Journal of Neuroscience · 782 citations

    Any medical treatment is surrounded by a psychosocial context that affects the therapeutic outcome. If we want to study this psychosocial context, we need to eliminate the specific action of a therapy and to simulate a context that is similar in all respects to that of a real treatment. To do this,

    Save this paper

  12. A comparison of placebo effects in clinical analgesic trials versus studies of placebo analgesia

    Lene Vase, Joseph L. Riley, Donald D. Price · 2002 · Pain · 437 citations

    A previous meta-analysis of clinical analgesic trial studies showed generally low magnitudes of placebo analgesia (N. Engl. J. Med. 344 (2001) 1594). However, as studies included in their analysis used only placebo as a control condition, we conducted two meta-analyses, one in which 23 studies used only placebo as a control condition, and one in which 14 studies investigated placebo analgesic mechanisms. Magnitudes of placebo analgesic effects were much higher in the latter (mean effect size=0.95) as compared to the former (mean effect size=0.15) and were significantly different (P=0.003). This difference as well as differences in effect sizes within studies of placebo mechanisms may be pars

    Save this paper

  14. Placebo Effect and Clinical Trials in Migraine Therapy

    James R. Couch, Jr. · 1987 · Neuroepidemiology · 38 citations

    Migraine is a cyclical condition in which the cycles may occur or remit in an unpredictable fashion. The goal of prophylactic antimigraine therapy is to induce remission of an active cycle of migraine or to inhibit occurrence of individual headaches until the cycle remits for other reasons. The placebo effect probably takes advantage of these cycles. The placebo effect is significant and quite potent. The placebo effect may be divided into (1) the initial effect and (2) the continuing effect which is seen following a stabilization period. The initial placebo effect is dramatic with 62% of 188 subjects improving by 75% after 4 weeks of placebo. The continuing effect is demonstrated by occurre

    Save this paper

  16. Justice for Placebo: Placebo Effect in Clinical Trials and Everyday Practice

    Nebojsa Nick Knezevic, Aleksandar Sic, Samantha Worobey, et al. · 2025 · Medicines · 23 citations

    The placebo effect has been widely documented across various medical conditions, demonstrating its ability to influence both subjective and objective outcomes. Placebo responses can significantly improve symptoms in these different conditions, such as pain, Parkinson’s disease, depression, anxiety, and addiction. Psychological mechanisms, particularly the power of patient expectations, appear to play a central role, with neurobiological evidence supporting the activation of dopamine, endogenous opioids, and endocannabinoids in response to placebo interventions. Studies have demonstrated that placebo injections and more complex procedures, including sham surgeries, can produce therapeutic eff

    Save this paper

Write your paper with these sources

Folio is the integrity-first research workspace: search 200M+ papers, save sources, and write with citations that format themselves. Free for students and researchers.

Start writing free →