In the 1950s, cardiologist Leonard Cobb wanted to study the effectiveness of mammary arterial ligation (tying two arteries to increase blood flow to the heart), a procedure then commonly used to treat chest pain. Cobb performed the surgery for some patients; for others he just made a cut in the chest and bandaged them up again, though patients believed they had had the surgery.

The two groups healed at the same rate, and 90% of both groups said the procedure helped them.

This is the placebo effect: if you expect a drug, or surgery, or therapy to make you feel better, it probably will. The placebo effect is not imaginary: the improvements people feel are very real, though the effects are due to the power of the mind rather than the therapeutic effects of the treatment.

Today, it is routine practice in clinical trials to test how well any treatment works compared to a placebo. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) fails in this. Much of their ‘effectiveness’ is due to the placebo effect. That is why scientifically-trained doctors, who look to clinical trials for proof of effectiveness, routinely dismiss alternative medicines, even though people swear it works.

But, as Cobb’s experiment showed, even conventional medicine often works due to the placebo effect. CAM practitioners can also claim you should not mind how it works so long as it does.

But this does not really satisfy: if you know what you are receiving is a placebo, it will not work for you. And some medical treatments are really much more effective than placebos. Till we find a scientific cure for everything, quacks (and doctors) will continue to use placebos and get results too.

But most quacks will get less results than most doctors. Don’t you hate the uncertainty? But that is how science works. And the placebo effect still cannot cure AIDS or set a broken bone.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Some more on placebos:

1. The power of the placebo

2. Is homeopathy better than a placebo?

3. Thrill-seekers are more sensitive to the placebo effect

4. Acupuncture fertility treatment is no better than a placebo

Sometimes it is, but not always. And sometimes,  we simply don’t know.
Some kinds of alternative medicine have been proven effective in controlled studies. Acupuncture helps relive pain. Yoga, art therapy and aromatherapy are good for stress. Ginger can reduce nausea, and turmeric fights infections. Others, like therapeutic touch, seem to be harmless.

Some seem to be harmful, and for others the evidence is mixed or simply hard to find. Colon cleansing as a detoxification and weight loss procedure can cause dehydration. Ayurvedic medicines sometimes heal, but they can contain harmful heavy metals, and because the manufacturing is not standardized, the amount of the effective substance can vary from batch to batch of the same medicine. So they are not always safe, and they may have side effects too (in fact, anything when taken in excess has ’side effects’, or harms the body, even water).

Many alternative medicines are not proven. This is important to remember if you are thinking of taking alternative or complementary treatment for something serious like cancer or AIDS. There are conventional treatments that have been proven to cure or improve the prognosis for these illnesses, even though they make you feel worse in the short term.

On the other hand, if you go for alternative treatments, you may not have to deal with going bald or severe nausea, but you are choosing to trust the unknown. No alternative/complementary treatment has been proven to cure serious diseases, and if you reject conventional treatment altogether you may be seriously risking your health.  Some people use alternative medicines as an adjunct to conventional treatment, but it is best to be open about this with your doctor because herbal medicines change the way other medicines work.

You need to investigate alternative medicines, just as you investigate conventional medicines. Nothing is totally safe.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read some more about alternative and conventional medicine:

1. About alternative and complementary medicines

2. Alternative medicine health news

3.  Debate on complementary medicine misleads patients

4. Is homeopathy a sham?