logo

Placebo - Medical Science Assignment

   

Added on  2020-01-28

19 Pages8066 Words50 Views
Introduction chapterPlacebo Use in Medical Practice amongPhysicians: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices

ABSTRACTPlacebo are substances that tends to lower the pain by altering the psychological conditionspatients but it does not contain any active pharmaceutical ingredient that can produce therapeuticeffect on the body. A secondary research based on literature review has been conducted whichmainly focused on placebo use in medical practice and the impact of placebos on knowledge,attitude and practice of physicians in medical use. Discussion based on placebo studies stated thatthere are positive effects noticed when a patient is administered with placebo. There are manyphysical and psychological changes that takes place hence, a patient needs to be informed before he/she is being given placebo treatment. Conclusion and recommendation stated that all the physiciansshould be given proper training so that placebo can be successfully used in medical practice. Furtherpatients and their family members should be informed so that they are able to handle if any negativeconsequences occur.Description of the results were discussed in the research which implied that knowledge,practice and attitude of all the physicians change when they are implementing placebo treatment toa patient in different condition. Further it can also be clearly inferred that it is very necessary to plana diagnosis procedure before proceeding with the placebo procedure because if a person who issupposed to be given placebo treatment is suffering from chronic medical condition than this cancertainly lead to complications and adverse health outcomes. At last certain recommendations werealso suggested so that implementation of placebo to patients can bring positive results.

Table of ContentsBACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................3PROBLEM OF THE STUDY..............................................................................................................3SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.....................................................................................................4RATIONALE........................................................................................................................................5AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.....................................................................................5DISCUSSION.......................................................................................................................................5CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................8Introduction.................................................................................................................................8Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9Recommendation......................................................................................................................10REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................12

BACKGROUND The use of placebos has gained a greater attention in the field of research as compared to anyother field of medicine (Colloca and et.al, 2015). In general placebos can be defined as substancethat do not have any therapeutic importance or pharmacological effect on the body of an individualwho is treated for the different medical issues. Although it is ethically inappropriate to use placeboswithout the consent of patient but physicians administer placebos so that they are able to calm downthe signs and symptoms which are causing distress in patients. The placebo effect is generallyproduced when a patient starts expecting a pharmacological response when a placebo isadministered in their body (Bishop and et.al, 2014). They expect a pain relief or classicalconditioning which is not possible in the case of placebos. After the incorporation of placebos inthe body when a person starts expecting, it leads to biochemical reactions in the brain. This leads toactivation of various neurotransmitters. Physicians state that they administered different types ofplacebos ranging from vitamin tablets, low dose drugs and in many cases they also prescribesimple sugar pills (Franz and et.al 2013). In a research it was notified that 20 % of doctors in all thehealthcare setting give placebos to patients so that they are able to calm down the symptoms ofdistress in them . On other hand 15% of physicians prescribe placebos so that they can satisfypatients and 6% physicians give them placebos so that they can stop patients from complaining. Theeffect which eases the suffering and produces alterations in the body process is known as placeboeffect (Vincent and et.al, 2013).Knowledge, practice and attitude of physicians towards placebo treatment Placebo treatment in medical and clinical practice is generally so that physicians are able tocomply with the desires and wishes of the patient or for the purpose of treating a person withoutproducing any harm to the patient. In the first case, the procedures are initiated by the physicians asper the interest of the patients without considering the conflicts that can take place in medicalprofession. In the another case, the physicians assumes that the patients have not been informedabout the treatment which is to be given to them. Sometimes this type of treatment may affect thepatient-physician relationship to a higher extent. Hence, it is very necessary to understand theattitude and knowledge about using placebos in various situations.PROBLEM OF THE STUDYThere are ethical as well as technical issues associated with use of placebos in clinicalpractice and research related to medicines (Leigh, 2013). In majority of the cases the doctors useplacebos without the consent of patient and believe that this medical intervention is necessary totreat the patient in best possible manner. But now if physicians deceive patients by giving them pillsthat are not pharmacologically active then they compromise the trust and increase the risk of

End of preview

Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.

Related Documents
Use of placebo: Knowledge, attitude and practice among medical practitioners
|11
|4871
|237

Placebo Effect Experiment
|39
|4271
|416

(PDF) The Placebo Effect: How the Subconscious Fits in
|10
|3037
|46

Developing a Research Question for Effective Pain Management
|11
|1614
|110

Hope and Placebo in Counselling
|11
|3211
|55

Pharmacology and Medicine Management Unit 30
|18
|5965
|261