This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Neglected Asset in the Care of Patients

Herbert Benson, MD; Mark D. Epstein

JAMA. 1975;232(12):1225-1227.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT is a neglected and berated asset of patient care. As health care delivery systems evolve, it is imperative to recognize the value of the placebo effect so that provisions can be made for its incorporation and proper use. Any health care system that minimizes and fragments the relationship between the physician and the patient will lessen the effects of this asset.

Disdain for the placebo effect is the prevalent attitude in medicine today. However, throughout much of the history of medicine, until the 19th century, the placebo effect was the most a physician was able to offer his patients,^1-3 and it was relied on to maintain the physician's reputation. Despite patients' submission to "purging, puking, poisoning, puncturing, cutting, cupping, blistering, bleeding, leeching, heating, freezing, sweating, and shocking,"³ the doctor or healer managed to retain his respected position throughout the ages. Although medicine has since developed . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Boston

From the Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to the Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215 (Dr. Benson).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?