A researcher from Oxford University says that patients can feel negative side effects of medicine even when they're not taking it, a phenomenon known as the 'nocebo effect.'
For years, doctors have praised the power of the “placebo effect” — a phenomenon in which patients feel the benefits of a drug they believe they’re taking, even when they’re not. But if the brain is capable of producing positive effects based on belief alone, it stands to reason that it could do the opposite and create negative sensations simply because of the possibility that they may occur.
“The nocebo effect is the negative placebo effect,” Howick tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “It is the effect of expecting a bad outcome. If a trusted doctor tells you that a drug will give you pain or nausea it increases the chances you will actually experience those things, even if the ‘drug’ is a sugar pill.”
Statins, used to lower cholesterol, have earned a reputation of having serious side effects like insomnia, headaches, dizziness and nausea. But in blind studies, researchers have found that as many as 40 percent of patients report these symptoms even when not actually taking the medicine. In a 2017 editorial, Steven E. Nissen, MD, a researcher and cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, argues that an “Internet-driven cult” has stoked fear about a medicine that has life-saving properties.
While it may seem difficult to imagine actual physical reactions to medicine based solely on simple articles online, Howick says that it likely happens frequently. “The basic mechanism [behind it] is increased anxiety,” says Howick. “Studies have shown [it’s] increased stress hormones in the body.
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