Migraine Pain Pills Only As Good As You Think
Do you suffer from migraine headaches? There are millions of people who do, and a lot of drugs are taken to stop the terrible pain of head wrenching migraines. A new study suggests that the effectiveness of these drugs has a lot to do with how effective you think they will be. In other words the drugs you take might only be as good as you think.
Researchers gave 66 migraine sufferers a set of pills, some in envelopes labeled “Maxalt,” a common migraine medicine, and others in envelopes labeled “placebo.” The catch: Sometimes the “Maxalt” packets contained placebos, and vice-versa. Participants wound up reporting drastically better results when taking Maxalt out of the Maxalt packages than when the drug came out of the placebo packets, WebMD reports.
While the study showed that the drug was effective, “the placebo effect accounted for at least 50% of the subjects’ overall pain relief,” lead author Ted Kaptchuk said. People taking the placebo, believing it was real, got almost as much relief as those taking real drugs, but believing they were fake. Strangely, even taking a placebo that was labeled as such brought patients some relief. Kaptchuk speculates that simply taking pills triggers a healing subconscious memory, the AP reports.
Thanks to Newser for story contributions.
About Post Author
Caroline Taylor
More Stories
What in the World Happened to the Ginger Kitten?
The abrupt sound of multiple barks pierced the stillness of the night. It was an unsettling deviation from their customary...
Warning: Be Careful When Walking Your Dog In Alligator Country
Mike McCoy has read up a bit on alligator attacks and he knew what to do if you find yourself in one—and good thing too.
MadMikesAmerica To Remain Open For Business
We are staying open. MMA may not be as active as it once was, but why close this one, with all those articles still available to read, and maybe more to come?
Fox News Guest: Ghoulish Trump Has Blood On His Hands
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) told Fox News on Sunday that former President Donald Trump is guilty of a “ghoulish” attempt to undermine the economy by downplaying the need for Covid-19 vaccinations.
Disgusting Ted Cruz Forgets History of Conservatives Like Elvis Promoting Vaccines
Recently, the beloved Sesame Street character Big Bird went on television and social media to promote COVID-19 vaccines. For anyone who has been conscious for at least a few years, celebrities—especially ones with larger fanbases amongst the youth of the country—promoting public health initiatives is not surprising. It has been going on forever and ever.
Crazy Louie Gohmert: Climate Action Would Force Us To Brush Our Teeth With Bark
[caption id="attachment_187456" align="aligncenter" width="615"] Getty images[/caption] by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing How the hell did Republican Louie Gohmert of Texas ever become...
Wow! All that effort to show that psychosomatic healing can occur. Someone should tell them that we have known that for a long time.
I’ve suffered from migraine headaches all my life, and nothing helps no matter how much you believe it will.