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[|Genes Determine Whether Sugar Pills Work] December 4, 2008

Scientists have now figured out that some people, if given a placebo instead of a real drug, can relieve some sicknesses or medical conditions. A placebo is a fake drug or surgery given to patients to convince them they will get better through treatment because they are convinced they need help, when in reality no treatment is essential except some time. A test has been done in which some stress patients were given a placebo without knowing, while some patients were given the real drug. After monitoring the brain of all patients after the treatment, almost half of all the placebo patients had the same stress relief as the real drug users.

Scientists realized two reasons why these placebo patients had relieved stress. The first is that their brain thought they were losing stress through medication, which lowered their emotion level by utilizing the brain. The second is that they had two genes that helped them lower their stress through the placebo and control their emotions. This can change how we receive and take drugs in the future. If people are positive for the emotion-controlling gene, they will only require placebos or an active treatment that will help handle emotions. This can change the health of people that suffer from emotional or mental problems if the genes are present.

cwinter March 14, 2010