Placebo pills for kids
June 5th 2008 05:08
Kids have powerful imagination, and they're easily fooled into believing what they're told. Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy become real people, with real backgrounds, causing some measure of devastation when they're told the truth.
This measure of belief can be used for their benefit, though, as the placebo effect is quite powerful in children. Well, at least, it worked for me. Chicken Noodle Soup cures all, doesn't it?
The Placebo Store sells fake pills, cherry-flavoured, that you can give to kids when they're not really that sick, but they ask for something.
It's not intended to cure anything and, since it's not actually medicine, it can be sold in any store.
Doctors are naturally skeptical, though, as evidenced by this New York Times article:
"The idea that we can use a placebo as a general treatment method, Dr. Brody said, strikes me as inappropriate."
Is it a good idea? In my opinion, you'd be better off weaning your kids off their reliance on medicines, rather than giving them cherry-flavoured treats.
At the end of the NYTimes article, doctors suggest that mothers reach for the 'kiss and make it better' approach to home medicine.
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