What a nice surprise to see Zeebo in the opening shot of CBS 11pm report on ‘Prescription Placebo”. Here is the start of their report. Get the full coverage and video on their website.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)– Could knowing you’re taking a fake pill make you feel better?
Research is showing that it is possible and that some patients may not need drugs, but instead a prescription placebo, CBS2’s Dick Brennan reported.
It looks like any ordinary pill, but it turns out it’s fake medication that doctors confirm can cure some of the most common medical conditions.
Placebo pills worked for Linda Buonanno, who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome. The condition often strikes without notice.
“I felt horrible. I didn’t have a life. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t plan anything,” she said.
So when Buonanno saw an ad for a study, she signed up right away.
“I was all happy about it,” she said.
But she was shocked when doctors told her she wouldn’t be getting real medicine, but a placebo.
“We said very clearly you don’t have to believe in it, just do it… it’s kind of a crazy idea,” Dr. Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard University said.
“I was so disappointed — a placebo, a sugar pill, are you kidding? That’s not gonna work,” Buonanno said.
But it did work, her symptoms disappeared.
“I made plans, I went out, I didn’t’ have to worry about anything. I got my life back,” she said.
… continue on CBS local