In a double-blind test, if the doctor treating a patient knows whether the patient is getting a real treatment or not, they may (perhaps unconsciously) treat the patient differently, or worse let slip that the patient is taking the placebo.
This will affect the results (as it changes the effect of the placebo) and can ruin a drug trial.
The placebo effect refers to the phenomenon where a person experiences a response to a treatment or intervention that has no therapeutic effect, simply because they believe it will work. This psychological effect can lead to improvements in symptoms or overall health, despite receiving a dummy treatment.
A placebo is a treatment, most commonly a medication of some kind, which is given to a subject with the pretense that it will treat a specific ailment when in fact the treatment will have no significant effect on the subject. The subject may report that the treatment has had a positive effect, when in fact the effect is entirely in the imagination of the subject. Therefore, a placebo variable is a factor that researchers in the medical field must consider when experimenting with new treatments, to decide whether the success of the treatment is due to the psychological or placebo effect of the treatment, or if the treatment itself is working.
The placebo effect can have a negative influence also, a nocebo. If a placebo is given that the patient believes to be harmful to their health in some way, he or she may develop symptoms appropriate to this belief.
It's just referred to as the placebo effect, where a persons condition or perceived condition has improved after the treatment.
Could be Placebo
A placebo
Placebo
To avoid the placebo effect! If doctor knows that the substance he is giving is inert, his behavior will change. Patient is likely to note the same. If the doctor knows that he is giving the drug, his behavior will be confident. Patient will again note the same. So to avoid this placebo effect, the doctor has to be blind as well. Same is true for the patient also. So both the patient and the doctor need to be blind to have the proper study of the drug. Such study is called as double blind study and it is necessary for proper results.
Technically, absolutely nothing should happen. A placebo is substance that is meant to deceive the patient into believing they are getting actual medication. Placebo's are most commonly used in drug trials to see if the drug actually works or simply causing a "placebo effect". Which is a psychological response the brain permits when it believes it is being treated. So ultimately the answer to your question is that no, taking large amounts of a placebo won't harm you. Though if you are experiencing placebo effects then it has the possibility of increasing your response to it.
Here's one: the placebo paradox. We know now that most alternative therapies work because the patient believes in the treatment and the therapist. This is known to be true of real drugs too. It's a very powerful effect. But once you know that, when you are a cynic who understands the placebo effect, how do you get good treatment. In other words how do you get the benefits of belief when you know it just belief? That's the paradox.
A medication given in research that has no medical properties is called a placebo
Placebo effect.