The Placebo Effect Is Real

Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

People who incorrectly believe they are on pain medication have less activity in their pain receptors.

Researchers spread a "pain-reducing" cream that didn't have any actual pain-reducing qualities on the arms of some volunteers, before applying heat to their arms. During the heating, magnetic imaging of the volunteers' pain receptors revealed much less activity in those who had received the placebo, when compared to those who got no cream at all.

This suggests that while the placebo effect might begin in the head, psychological factors can have a real influence on the central nervous system and how the body recognizes pain.

The study also lends credence to the philosophy of Patrick Swayze's Dalton in "Road House," who so eloquently declared, "Pain don't hurt."

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