REAL SCIENCE

The Ask Marilyn column in this week’s Parade Magazine featured this question from a reader: “If you wished to test the effects of a placebo, what would you give the control group?” Good question. In her reply, she tells about a study in which sham acupuncture was pitted against sham pills for chronic arm pain. The patients reported that the acupuncture worked better, she says, although objective measures, such as grip strength, showed no difference. But here is another interesting finding: “…Before the study began,…

Continue reading