placebo
n. countablen. a fake pill or treatment that has no medicine in it. It is used in medical tests to see if a real drug actually works better than just thinking you are getting help.
n. an inert substance or treatment given to a patient for its psychological effect or as a control in a clinical trial. Often used to isolate the physiological effects of a drug from the patient's expectations.
Half of the patients in the study received a placebo.
Researchers found that the group taking the placebo reported fewer headaches, likely due to the psychological relief of being treated.
The ethical dilemma of prescribing a placebo in clinical practice remains a subject of debate, as it involves balancing the potential for psychological healing against the requirement for patient transparency.
Inherited from Middle English placebo, borrowed from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō (“I please”).
Often used in the phrase 'placebo effect' to describe improvements in health not caused by active medication.