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The Placebo Effect

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The placebo effect occurs when people's expectations or beliefs influence or determine their experience in a given situation. In other words, simply expecting something to happen can actually make it happen.

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Updated: Jul 21, 2025

How to Study Placebo Responses in Motion Sickness with a Rotation Chair Paradigm in Healthy Participants

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A Call to Revise the Declaration of Helsinki's Placebo Guidelines.

¹Center for Health Humanities, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, MA, USA.

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics : CQ : the International Journal of Healthcare Ethics Committees

|July 28, 2023

Summary

The Declaration of Helsinki guides ethical human subject research. Recent placebo research suggests this influential document needs updating to ensure continued protection for participants.

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Area of Science:

Medical Ethics
Clinical Research
Psychology of Medicine

Background:

The Declaration of Helsinki, established in 1964, provides ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects.
It has been revised seven times to address evolving research practices and ethical considerations.
Safeguarding participant well-being is a cornerstone of the Declaration.

Purpose of the Study:

To argue for a necessary revision of the Declaration of Helsinki.
To incorporate recent advancements and ethical considerations arising from placebo research.
To ensure the Declaration remains relevant and effective in protecting human subjects.

Main Methods:

Literature review of the Declaration of Helsinki's revisions.
Analysis of recent findings in placebo research.
Ethical argument for updating the Declaration based on new evidence.

Main Results:

The current Declaration of Helsinki may not fully address the complexities introduced by placebo research.
New ethical challenges and considerations have emerged from studies on placebo effects.
Existing ethical guidelines may require refinement to encompass these discoveries.

Conclusions:

The Declaration of Helsinki requires an update to reflect the latest understanding of placebo research.
Revising the Declaration will strengthen the ethical framework for human subject research.
Continued ethical oversight is crucial as scientific understanding advances.