Placebo Effects

Second Edition

Fabrizio Benedetti

The first book to describe the effects of the placebo across all medical conditions, helping the reader to understand where, when, how placebo effects occur
Contains about 60 figures - showing the brain mechanisms of placebo and placebo-related effects
Each chapter contains a summary and key learning points, including suggestions for further discussion, making the book useful for teaching
Includes a chapter is about complex experimental designs in placebo research, and how to run a placebo study, helping those who wish to start their own research into this effect

New to this Edition:

Includes new chapters on the placebo effect within the context of the doctor-patient relationship. There are also new chapters on physical performance and one looking the placebo effect beyond the medical context
All other chapters substantially updated to take account of the explosion in placebo research since publication of the first edition

Placebo Effects

Second Edition

Fabrizio Benedetti

Description

One of the most widespread words in medicine is placebo and placebo effect, although it is not always clear what it means exactly. Recent progress in biomedical research has allowed a better clarification of the placebo effect. We know that this is an active psychobiological phenomenon which takes place in the patient's brain and that is capable of influencing both the course of a disease and the response to a therapy.

Since publication of the first edition of this book in 2008, there has been an explosion of placebo research, and this new edition brings the topic fully up to date. Throughout, the book emphasizes that there are many placebo effects and critically reviews them in different medical conditions, such as neurological and psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, immune and hormonal responses, as well as oncology, surgery, sports medicine and acupuncture. The psychosocial context around the patient is crucial to the placebo effect, for example the doctor's words and attitudes, and throughout this is considered.

Exhaustive in its coverage, and written by a world authority in the field, this is the definitive reference text to the placebo effect - one that is essential for researchers and clinicians across a wide range of medical specialities.

Placebo Effects

Second Edition

Fabrizio Benedetti

Part 1: General concepts and mechanisms
1: The traditional concept of placebo
2: A modern view of placebo and placebo-related effects
3: Placing placebo effects within the context of the doctor-patient relationship
Part 2: Disease-based classification of placebo effects - Most studied conditions
4: Pain
5: Diseases of the nervous system
6: Mental and behavioural disorders
7: Immune and endocrine systems
Part 3: Disease-based classification of placebo effects - Less studied conditions
8: Cardiovascular and respiratory system
9: Gastrointestinal and genitourinary disorders
10: Special medical conditions and therapeutic interventions
Part 4: Clinical, ethical and methodological considerations
11: Clinical-ethical implications and applications
12: How to run a placebo study: A closer look into complex experimental designs
Part 5: Beyond the healing context
13: Physical and cognitive performance
14: Halo effects

Placebo Effects

Second Edition

Fabrizio Benedetti

Author Information

Fabrizio Benedetti, Professor of Neurophysiology and Human Physiology, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin Medical School, Italy

He received the Medical Doctor (MD) degree in 1981 from the University of Turin Medical School. In 1984, he received a Silbert International Award from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). In the 1980s and 1990s, he worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA and was a visiting professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Texas in Dallas. He has been Professor of Neurophysiology and Human Physiology at the University of Turin Medical School since 1999. He has been a member of the six-strong group on placebo of the Mind-Brain-Behavior Initiative at Harvard University, and a consultant for the Placebo Project at the US National Institute of Health. He has been nominated a member of the Academy of Europe and of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain. His current scientific interests are the placebo effect across diseases, pain in dementia, and intraoperative neurophysiology for mapping the human brain.

Placebo Effects

Second Edition

Fabrizio Benedetti

Reviews and Awards

Review from previous edition Benedetti is highly analytical in his approach and, at the same time, has the ability to explain complex matters so that they are easily understood. This book should be a must for all who struggle to make sense out of the intriguing phenomenon we call placebo. - Pharmaceutical Press

Benedetti's book is a lucid and extensive review entrenched in the neuroscience of placebo research and heralding the importance of this area of study. - PsycCRITIQUIES

... comprehensive and thoughtful volume ... All physicians could learn much from this volume. - New England Journal of Medicine

The breadth of topics addressed ... make this book an important read for anyone in the medical field. - Journal of the Neurological Sciences

Placebo Effects

Second Edition

Fabrizio Benedetti

From Our Blog

Understanding placebo effects: how rituals affect the brain and the body

In a typical prehistoric scene, say in 4000 BC, a wounded warrior is dragged to the shaman tent. The respected shaman takes a look at the wound and assures the warrior that he will be healed with the proper prayers and ritual dances.

Posted on November 21, 2014

Read the blog post