Whenever many different remedies are proposed for a disease, it usually means that we know very little about treating the disease, which is also true of a (remedy) when it is vaunted as a panacea or cure-all for many diseases.”—Garrison
Summary
With increased interest in the placebo effect and clinical methodology, definitions of the placebo have proliferated. But there is little agreement among lexicographers, historians, clinicians, and researchers about how to define this word.
Derivations of the wordplacebo from the Hebrew and Latin and its use in the Bible and literature were reviewed. Historical inaccuracies in classical references to the placebo's origin, history, and development were corrected. An explanation was given for the introduction of the word in 1785, and for the changes in definition that have appeared since that time. Definitions of the placebo and placebo effect, based on historic considerations and heuristic principles, were then proposed.
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From the Placebo Studies Laboratory, Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, and the Cornell University Medical School.
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Shapiro, A.K. Semantics of the placebo. Psych Quar 42, 653–695 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01564309
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01564309