How does the placebo effect work?

Question

Taking a sugar pill can sometimes lead to real improvements in health. How does believing in a treatment, even when it’s fake, trigger physical changes in our bodies?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Anxiety and a focus on symptoms can magnify minor issues. The belief that something is a cure or that it will mitigate symptoms relieves the anxiety and distracts our focus from the issue. Essentially, the placebo returns us to a baseline, so what once seemed significant is less so.