placebo
noun
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Doctors doing research on new treatments for disease often give one group a placebo while a second group takes the new medication. Since those in the placebo group usually believe they're getting the real thing, their own hopeful attitude may bring about improvement in their condition. Thus, for the real drug to be considered effective, it must produce even better results than the placebo. Placebos have another use as well. A doctor who suspects that a patient's physical symptoms are psychologically produced may prescribe a placebo in the hope that mentally produced symptoms can also be mentally cured.
Examples of placebo in a Sentence
Brenda Goodman, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024
Also, rituals of any kind are good, so my sleepy bedtime beverages are, if nothing else, an excellent soothing placebo.
—Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 31 Oct. 2024
Those who took semaglutide reported a significant reduction in pain – an average drop of about 42 points — while those in the placebo group had an average drop of 27.5 points.
—Annika Kim Constantino,ashley Capoot, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2024
At the end of the trial, the participants who took semaglutide lost an average of about 14% of their body weight — roughly 33 pounds — compared to about 3% in the placebo group.
—Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, 30 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Placebo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placebo. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
placebo
noun
from Latin placebo "I shall please"
Medical Definition
placebo
noun
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