Beneficial Facets of the Placebo Effect
Beneficial Facets of the Placebo Effect
An argument in favor of the placebo effect as an effective and safe therapeutic practice for ailing patients.
1,140 words (
approx. 4.6 pages) |
5 sources |
2001
Paper Summary:
This paper looks at the beneficial facets of the placebo effect, and presents the placebo effect as an effective, ethical treatment. It maintains that the placebo effect is an effective and safe therapeutic practice for ailing patients, rather than a deceiving scheme of doctors. The term 'placebo' is defined and the ethical dilemma of using the placebo effect is discussed. Results of studies that show the effectiveness of the placebo effect are examined and the writer offers a personal opinion on the matter.
From the Paper:
"The philosophy of the mind continues to attract fans in this modern age of psycho-enlightenment. Alternative medicine, including Western medicine, has slowly permeated into the vessel of the United States Health Care System (USHCS). New treatments for diseases are constantly being tested in clinical trials, and a lot of patients pay close attention to their results, hoping to learn about the latest medication that will change their lives. Moreover, the data from these trials is easy to misinterpret, and it can lead to unnecessary fears or false hopes. The manifestations of therapeutic placebos and its' ethical infringements are of no strangers to the antagonistic views of its skeptics. The skeptics, essentially patients and opponents of the USHCS, feel that it is a doctor's moral commitment to inform to them whether the medication administered is simply that a placebo or else wise. It is quintessential not to generalize that all patients are skeptics to the placebo effect."
Beneficial Facets of the Placebo Effect (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Argumentative-Essay-Beneficial-Facets-of-the-Placebo-Effect/2012
"Beneficial Facets of the Placebo Effect" 15 January 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.academon.com/Argumentative-Essay-Beneficial-Facets-of-the-Placebo-Effect/2012>