PLACEBOS, SUPPLEMENTS, NUTRICEUTICALS STUDYGUIDE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. What is the placebo effect?
Answer:
A response to treatment not caused by the drug's pharmacologic or physiologic effects, but by
expectation/belief. ’
Question:
2. What did John Haygarth test in 1799?
Answer:
Perkins tractors (iron rods vs sham wooden rods) for rheumatism 4/5 patients improved.
Question:
3. When was the term "placebo effect" first used in medical literature?
Answer:
1920, by T.C. Graves in The Lancet.
Question:
4. When were the first placebo-controlled RCTs done?
Answer:
1940s (comparing to no treatment/natural history).
Question:
5. In 1955, what treatment was reported to be as effective as morphine for pain relief?
Answer:
Saline
Question:
6. Until mid-20th century, which drugs had proven pharmacologic effects?
Answer:
Opium, quinine, digitalis, iodine, colchicum, ipecac, mercury, salicylates.
Question:
7. What are the two main roles of placebo in modern medicine?
Answer:
(1) Control for scientific comparison; (2) Specific treatment modality.
Question:
8. Placebos can be what two main types?
Answer:
Substances or procedures.
, Question:
9. inert vs active placebos?
Answer:
Inert = sugar pill; Active = niacin (flushing), sedative, anticholinergic.
Question:
10. Example of a placebo procedure?
Answer:
Sham surgery (e.g., internal mammary artery ligation for angina).
Question:
11. What common alternative medicine procedures may be placebo effects?
Answer:
Acupuncture, cupping.
Question:
12. When did the FDA require randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled RCTs?
Answer:
1980
Question:
13. In Hafliðadóttir et al. (2021), what % of overall treatment effect was attributable to
contextual/placebo effects?
Answer:
54%.
Question:
14. Why are placebo controls used in clinical trials?
Answer:
To account for the placebo effect.
Question:
15. How can the natural history of disease confuse analysis in trials?
Answer:
Symptoms may improve due to spontaneous remission, not treatment.
Question:
CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. What is the placebo effect?
Answer:
A response to treatment not caused by the drug's pharmacologic or physiologic effects, but by
expectation/belief. ’
Question:
2. What did John Haygarth test in 1799?
Answer:
Perkins tractors (iron rods vs sham wooden rods) for rheumatism 4/5 patients improved.
Question:
3. When was the term "placebo effect" first used in medical literature?
Answer:
1920, by T.C. Graves in The Lancet.
Question:
4. When were the first placebo-controlled RCTs done?
Answer:
1940s (comparing to no treatment/natural history).
Question:
5. In 1955, what treatment was reported to be as effective as morphine for pain relief?
Answer:
Saline
Question:
6. Until mid-20th century, which drugs had proven pharmacologic effects?
Answer:
Opium, quinine, digitalis, iodine, colchicum, ipecac, mercury, salicylates.
Question:
7. What are the two main roles of placebo in modern medicine?
Answer:
(1) Control for scientific comparison; (2) Specific treatment modality.
Question:
8. Placebos can be what two main types?
Answer:
Substances or procedures.
, Question:
9. inert vs active placebos?
Answer:
Inert = sugar pill; Active = niacin (flushing), sedative, anticholinergic.
Question:
10. Example of a placebo procedure?
Answer:
Sham surgery (e.g., internal mammary artery ligation for angina).
Question:
11. What common alternative medicine procedures may be placebo effects?
Answer:
Acupuncture, cupping.
Question:
12. When did the FDA require randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled RCTs?
Answer:
1980
Question:
13. In Hafliðadóttir et al. (2021), what % of overall treatment effect was attributable to
contextual/placebo effects?
Answer:
54%.
Question:
14. Why are placebo controls used in clinical trials?
Answer:
To account for the placebo effect.
Question:
15. How can the natural history of disease confuse analysis in trials?
Answer:
Symptoms may improve due to spontaneous remission, not treatment.
Question:
