ABSTRACT
The word placebo is derived from the Latin “I shall please”. The word is used to describe interventions that have no known value but are used to please or appease. Because of the dominance of biomedical and pharmaceutical thinking, we now tend to equate placebos with the inactive “sugar pills” used as the comparators of “real” medicines in drug trials. Nocebo is sometimes called “placebo's evil twin”. It is about getting worse when given a dummy or sham treatment and is again thought to be about expectations (in this case, negative rather than positive), suggestibility or conditioning. It worked wonders. She told us that it had cured her pain completely and that she was able to walk so much better; she was delighted and enjoyed her Christmas in France. On our return, she asked me to get her some more of this wonderful medicine, and I did.
