Why does there have to be a plecebo/control group in a drug test?
In: Biology
A parallel group to the those tested with the new medicine. They placebo group receive empty pills or injections but they are convinced they got the real deal. The researches are testing two things:
1) The psychological effect. Do people feel better just because they think the new medication is effective? Is it all in the mind?
2) In case people get side effects, it’s almost impossible to decide if these (sometimes severe) effects are caused by the medication. If a similar number of cases are detected in the placebo group, that’s a sign they are not caused by the medication. If complications are reported only in the group which received the real stuff, then they suspect the new drug is causing it.
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