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

“No one knows”.

That’s really just about all there is to it. We see it working; we know it works; we don’t know why it works.

Whoever can figure it out will probably have the explanation named after them.