Placebo

The Cheyenne used it for sore gums, the Comanches, for toothaches and sore throats. Other Native Americans kept it on hand for snakebites or syphilis.Modern Americans seem to love the stuff, too, even if we can't pronounce it. In fact, echinacea -- that's eck-in-EH-shia -- is now the top selling herbal remedy in health food stores, though garlic and ginseng claim top honors in overall sales.Unlike many medicinal herbs, this daisy-like flower, also known as purple coneflower, quite literally has its roots in America, not Asia.

In a recent column, you pointed out that three different studies have shown lack of benefit from taking beta carotene. I have coronary heart disease and have been taking an anti-oxidant pill containing beta carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C. Is there any new information on whether either vitamins E or C prevents heart attacks?While no recent studies have examined the effects of vitamin C, a report in the March 23 issue of The Lancet describes results from the first clinical trial of vitamin E, which followed patients for about 17 months, taking either a placebo or large amounts of the vitamin.

A little hair of the dog that bit you may be just what the doctor ordered for severe allergy sufferers. A new study shows that repeated doses of pollen delivered to the noses of people allergic to the substance dramatically reduced their hay fever symptoms.Allergy experts hope that the treatment, called nasal immunotherapy, can provide relief for the millions of allergic Americans who do not respond to medications.Immunotherapy is designed to de-sensitize allergy sufferers by giving them small, steadily increasing doses of an offending substance.

Q: I have tried many different remedies but continue to be terribly irritable before each menstrual period. Is it true that there is a new treatment for this problem?A: A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported the results of a Canadian study on the treatment of premenstrual syndrome with fluoxetine (Prozac). Surveys have shown that between 3 percent and 8 percent of North American women suffer from premenstrual syndrome. Symptoms, which may begin seven to 10 days before menstrual periods and end soon after the onset of menstrual flow, include increased tension, irritability, agitation, difficulty sleeping and fatigue.

An investor yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against Alpha 1 Biomedicals Inc., a Bethesda pharmaceutical company,alleging the firm misled the public about the prospects for its most promising drug.On April 28, when the bad news came out about the drug's effectiveness, Alpha 1's stock lost more than two-thirds of its value.That day, the company released the long-awaited results of clinical trials for thymosin alpha 1, intended to treat hepatitis B. Before the stock market opened that day, Alpha 1 told the public that the so-called "Phase III" clinical test, the most extensive one conducted on the drug, showed thymosin alpha 1 was no more effective than a placebo in treating hepatitis B.The news contradicted optimistic reports from various securities firms during the previous year.

Washington.--Politicians and the public are recoiling at revelations of government-sponsored nuclear experiments on unwitting victims in the early post-war period. But rogue science conducted with official blessings is not merely a historical relic. It continues today, despite a multitude of safeguards designed to assure compliance with rules of informed consent and the first canon of medicine: Do no harm.Consider, for example, trials of vaccines for pertussis, or whooping cough, financed last year in Italy and Sweden by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, renowned as the world's leading biomedical-research institution.

An investor yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against Alpha 1 Biomedicals Inc., a Bethesda pharmaceutical company, alleging the firm misled the public about the prospects for its most promising drug.On April 28, when the bad news came out about the drug's effectiveness, Alpha 1's stock lost more than two-thirds of its value.That day, the company released the long-awaited results of clinical trials for thymosin alpha 1, intended to treat hepatitis B. Before the stock market opened that day, Alpha 1 told the public that the so-called "Phase III" clinical test, the most extensive one conducted on the drug, showed thymosin alpha 1 was no more effective than a placebo in treating hepatitis B.The news contradicted optimistic reports from various securities firms during the previous year.

Q: My son is hyperactive and a friend suggested that this can be caused by an allergy to aspartame. We do let him drink a lot of diet soda so I wonder if he should be tested.A: Many parents of hyperactive children (the term doctors now tend to use is attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity) wonder whether additives in food could be responsible for their children's condition. To date, however, scientists have not been able to establish any clear-cut relationship between these additives and the observed behavior.

Doctors describe a ''placebo effect'' that may sometimesresult when a patient gets better without treatment, so long as he thinks his condition is receiving medical attention. Placebo dieting has been my strategy for years.We who enjoy, er, robust health fall into two groups, one of which is actively dieting. I am in the other, the control group. I don't actually do anything about my physique, but perhaps secret shame, reinforced by the unremitting mockery of my children, will produce a placebo effect.

Q: I have read about the benefits of aspirin for the prevention of heart attacks but have hesitated to take it regularly because of my diabetes. Is aspirin safe in people with diabetes?A: A study of 3,711 diabetic patients between the ages of 18 and 70 found that daily aspirin, compared with a placebo, produced a small but significant decrease in the frequency of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks over a five- to seven-year period. There was no difference between the two groups in the overall death rate.

R. Barker Bausell says he arrived at the University of Maryland's alternative medicine center with an open mind toward exploring the potential of acupuncture, herbal remedies and other unconventional treatments. But after five years as research director, he quit the Center for Integrative Medicine in 2004, convinced of one thing: None of the alternative treatments he has seen works any better than a placebo. "They can go on forever" conducting studies, Bausell said recently in his office at UM's School of Nursing, where he is a professor.

Neurochem Inc. Shares declined $2.40 to $3.16 after the drug developer said a study of its Alzheimer's disease drug candidate Alzhemed did not show a statistically significant benefit, compared with a placebo.

A dietary supplement widely used for achy joints does little if anything to relieve arthritic pain, according to researchers who found that chondroitin is no more effective than a placebo. The Swiss researchers combined results from recent large-scale studies on chondroitin's effectiveness and say their results overshadow smaller, less rigorous studies that suggested a benefit. "The longer you look and the more rigorously you look, the less effect you see," said Dr. Peter J?ni, an epidemiologist at Switzerland's University of Bern and an author of the new study.

When Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Rockville drug company with no products on the market, reported a successful study of an experimental schizophrenia drug on Dec. 7, its shares soared as much as 85 percent that day. Four days later, six Vanda insiders, including Chief Executive Officer Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, sold $43 million in stock, or about 7.5 percent of the company, according to regulatory filings. A venture capital firm whose general partners include Vanda Chairman Argeris N. Karabelas sold $19.3 million in Vanda stock on Dec. 11 and 12. Neither Vanda nor its backers told investors that the pill previously had been cast aside by three drugmakers, including Novartis AG, Dr. Polymeropoulos' former employer.

Using brain scans, acupuncture and the nasty stuff that puts the sting in pepper spray, researchers are learning how placebos play out in our brains. These innocuous medications - long used as decoys in clinical drug trials - aren't supposed to have real chemical effect on the body. But experience over the years has taught doctors that some patients who take placebos experience real relief. Now brain scans show that when test subjects think a placebo is a real medication or treatment, the expectation of relief can release natural painkillers.

My daughter is entering puberty and dealing with the usual underarm body odors. We tried many different deodorants and antiperspirants, to no avail. I figured if Listerine killed the germs that cause bad breath, it might kill the bacteria that cause underarm odor. I checked with the pediatrician first to make sure it would be safe. Sure enough, Listerine works. She applies it after showering, lets it dry and then applies an antiperspirant. She can go just about the entire day without any odor.

There might be something to positive thinking after all - and it's not just in your head. Researchers at the University of Michigan, Princeton and several other universities say that electronic signals fired off in the brains of 48 volunteers show that the brain reacts differently to pain when someone is given a placebo and believes in it. "How much the placebo effect is felt correlates with how much you believe," said Tor D. Wager, lead author of...

IN PILLS we trust. The latest mood-altering prescription medicines. Sugar pills. No matter. Such is the latest word from the final frontier, the vast unknown of the space between our ears. Like the far reaches of outer space, here is where we confront the most profound questions. Who are we? What afflicts us? How to heal it? Not that long ago, people with serious mental problems were locked up or exiled to the wilds. Depressive malaises were attributed to failures of will or morality.

The Cheyenne used it for sore gums, the Comanches, for toothaches and sore throats. Other Native Americans kept it on hand for snakebites or syphilis.Modern Americans seem to love the stuff, too, even if we can't pronounce it. In fact, echinacea -- that's eck-in-EH-shia -- is now the top selling herbal remedy in health food stores, though garlic and ginseng claim top honors in overall sales.Unlike many medicinal herbs, this daisy-like flower, also known as purple coneflower, quite literally has its roots in America, not Asia.

In a recent column, you pointed out that three different studies have shown lack of benefit from taking beta carotene. I have coronary heart disease and have been taking an anti-oxidant pill containing beta carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C. Is there any new information on whether either vitamins E or C prevents heart attacks?While no recent studies have examined the effects of vitamin C, a report in the March 23 issue of The Lancet describes results from the first clinical trial of vitamin E, which followed patients for about 17 months, taking either a placebo or large amounts of the vitamin.