Originally Posted by johnt

This is a big area. One in which PwP are well able to add to the research effort.

It seems to me that a placebo should be a first class citizen of the medical armoury even if it works only for some people and for a limited period of time.

We need to differentiate between placebos which give a purely perceived advantage and those which give an objectively measurable one.

We also need to differentiate between pure placebos - things which have no true therapeutic effect on PD - and those substances (e.g. chocolate) and actions (e.g. flashing lights) whose effect may be both truly therapeutic as well as due to the placebo effect. I call these "therebos" (from THERapy and placEBO).

The task ahead is to discover therebos, to measure their effectiveness, to engineer them to improve their efficacy and to nurture them.

John