ABSTRACT
The self-healing process is seen most clearly when patients get better having taken a remedy that is known to be ineffective, a placebo. Many doctors will have an initial antipathy towards the concept of 'exploiting the placebo effect' very much like the modern antipathy towards prescribing placebos. A placebo effect in multiple sclerosis (MS) has also been shown in a trial which compared recombinant alpha 2 interferon with placebo in a double-blind trial. The placebo effect also depends upon where the treatment is offered. Patient expectation is, of course, not a fixed entity. The rapid change in expectation on the part of both patients and GPs in the last few years towards prescribing antibiotics shows how expectation can change. For physician healers, the art is not only to improve the placebo effect by recognising the expectation effect but also to make expectations more appropriate.
