[Placebo: an unappreciated factor in medicine]
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Updated: Sep 28, 2026

How to Study Placebo Responses in Motion Sickness with a Rotation Chair Paradigm in Healthy Participants
Published on: December 14, 2014
1Medizinische Universitätspoliklinik Basel. zellera@uhbs.ch
Abstract:
Placebo is a provoking factor in medicine that is discussed controversially and not fully understood so far. From the scientific point of view and according to evidence-based medicine a proved indication to prescribe a placebo does not exist. Therapy of pain may be an exclusion. In our daily work we consciously use the placebo-effect, but on the other hand we are committed to the placebo-phenomenon. This article gives an overview of various aspects of placebo. The currently supported theory about the placebo response, conditioning and expectancy, are discussed. Further, the side effects (nocebo-phenomenon) and the utility of placebo in randomised clinical trials is highlighted.
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