Placebo pp

• 1. Are Placebos Harming Us?
  The unknown dangers of placebo use.
  By: Melanie Jenkins
  

2. What is a placebo?
A pill that is made up of inert ingredients manufactured for the act of taking a pill.
Often referred to as sugar pills or fake pills.
Designed so that a patient actively takes a pill in place of one that contains active medication.
3. How can placebos cause harm?
ClinicalTrials!
What is a clinical trial?

• A clinical trial is an experiment that is set up to test subjects in a clinical setting using various types of treatments or medication.

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4. Clinical Trial: How to
Two groups are used in a clinical trial. These two groups are decided at random and are scientifically controlled.
5. Processes of a Clinical Trial
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6. ButHow do clinical trials cause harm?
In order to understand how a clinical trial can cause harm lets look to a scenario:

• A eighteen year old male has just discovered he has diabetes. He is approached to participate in a clinical trial that is testing a new, cheaper type of insulin to control blood glucose. He does not have a lot of money so consents to the trial. What if he is given the placebo and his blood sugar levels become unsafe? This could cause him serious and irreversible damage.