Placebo

Placebo
A "sugar pill" or any dummy medication or treatment. For example, in a controlled clinical trial, one group may be given a real medication while another group is given a placebo that looks just like it in order to learn if the differences observed are due to the medication or to the power of suggestion. Placebos are widely used in drug trials.
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1. An inert substance given as a medicine for its suggestive effect. 2. An inert compound identical in appearance to material being tested in experimental research, which may or may not be known to the physician and/or patient, administered to distinguish between drug action and suggestive effect of the material under study. SYN: active p.. [L. I will please, future of placeo]
- active p. SYN: p..

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pla·ce·bo plə-'sē-(.)bō n, pl -bos
1) a usu. pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder
2) an inert or innocuous substance used esp. in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (as a drug)

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n.
a medicine that is ineffective but may help to relieve a condition because the patient has faith in its powers. New drugs are tested against placebos in clinical trials: the drug's effect is compared with the placebo response, which occurs even in the absence of any pharmacologically active substance in the placebo.

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pla·ce·bo (plə-seґbo) [L. “I will please”] any dummy medical treatment; originally, a medicinal preparation having no specific pharmacological activity against the patient's illness or complaint given solely for the psychophysiological effects of the treatment; more recently, a dummy treatment administered to the control group in a controlled clinical trial in order that the specific and nonspecific effects of the experimental treatment can be distinguished—i.e., the experimental treatment must produce better results than the placebo in order to be considered effective.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • PLACEBO — PLACEB Produit sans activité pharmacologique mais présenté de façon identique au produit actif, ce qui permet de tester la validité de ce dernier dans un essai thérapeutique. Il n’est pas rare qu’un malade se voie soulagé de ses douleurs ou… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Placébo — Placebo (homonymie) Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Placebo — Sn wirkstofflose Imitation eines Medikaments per. Wortschatz fach. (20. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus ne. placebo.    Ebenso nndl. placebo, ne. placebo, nfrz. placebo, nschw. placebo, nnorw. placebo. Das englische Wort geht auf den Anfang von… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • placebo — PLACÉBO s.n. (farm.) Medicament (sau preparat) inactiv prescris fie pentru a i face plăcere pacientului, fie în scopuri experimentale, pentru a studia efectele farmaceutice ale medicamentului şi reacţiile psihice ale pacientului. ♢ (Adjectival)… …   Dicționar Român

  • Placebo — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Placebo puede significar: La sustancia placebo, ver también efecto placebo. Placebo, un grupo originario de Londres, Inglaterra. Obtenido de Placebo Categoría: Wikipedia:Desambiguación …   Wikipedia Español

  • placebo — m. farm. Sustancia que se prescribe como fármaco pero que no posee ninguna propiedad farmacológica específica. Se utiliza especialmente cuando se hace un estudio sobre un determinado fármaco y se desea que los pacientes no estén influenciados por …   Diccionario médico

  • placebo — (n.) early 13c., name given to the rite of Vespers of the Office of the Dead, so called from the opening of the first antiphon, I will please the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm cxiv:9), from L. placebo I shall please, future indicative of… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Placebo — Pla*ce bo, n. [L., I shall please, fut. of placere to please.] 1. (R. C. Ch.) The first antiphon of the vespers for the dead. [1913 Webster] 2. (Med.) A prescription with no pharmacological activity given to a patient to humor or satisfy the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • placebo — placȇbo m <G a> DEFINICIJA farm. inaktivna supstanca ili pripravak, daje se pacijentu kako bi se zadovoljila njegova želja za medikamentnom terapijom, ili se primjenjuje u kontroliranim studijama zbog procjene djelotvornosti nekog lijeka… …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • placebo — (Del lat. placebo, 1.ª pers. de sing. del fut. imperf. de indic. de placēre). m. Med. Sustancia que, careciendo por sí misma de acción terapéutica, produce algún efecto curativo en el enfermo, si este la recibe convencido de que esa sustancia… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • placebo — [plə sē′bō] n. pl. placebos or placeboes [ME < L, I shall please] 1. R.C.Ch. the first antiphon of the vespers for the dead, beginning with the word placebo 2. a harmless, unmedicated preparation given as a medicine merely to humor a patient,… …   English World dictionary

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