Jordan Hoang
Mr.Ippolito
AP Biology
19 September 2018
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” Time, Time, 23 Aug. 2018, http://time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/
Placebo treatments- or pills with no active ingredients- have long been trialed in the medical world. In many cases, they have had surprisingly good results. One person named Linda Buonanno, for instance, had severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and no medication or diet seemed to be helping her. However, after being given a few doses of a placebo pill through a trial, her symptoms vanished. Subsequently, after the trial had ended and she stopped taking it, “her IBS symptoms came back in full force for several years”. Doctors have hypothesized that the effectiveness of a treatment can be magnified by physiological aspects. Factors such as less stress, a good “bedside manner” (how a doctor treats the patient), and even the color of a pill have been known to increase the benefits of certain medications. In Buonanno case, just believing that the placebo pill had positive effects may have been the reason it was so effective. Scientists have also found that perceiving a condition negatively can intensify the severity of it. This is known as “the nocebo effect”, and is often displayed in those who claim to have intolerance for certain foods. However, the legitimacy of placebos have been questioned, especially since it hasn’t been an ultimate cure for any disease. But despite this aspect, placebos have been known to improve the conditions of many suffering patients.
I resonate with a lot of points made in this article, which is why I ultimately chose to review it. I believe that how a person feels has astounding effects on their physical condition. I also know that psychological problems such as depression and anxiety have been known to aggravate other illnesses. For me personally, I know that when I am stressed, I tend to get more headaches and stomaches. In this sense, I believe that more placebos should be utilized, or at least tried, in the medical field. Although it might not be the right treatment for a patient, there is no harm in testing it out. Furthermore, like the article mentioned, I believe that more hospitals should “learn how to create an environment more conducive for healing” by targeting the mental health of the patient. Even if many scientists still don’t believe in placebos, I strongly believe that the emotional aspects of treatment can be very important.
The title of the article really intrigued me and I found the topic to be very captivating. Over time however, the paper began to seem quite repetitive. I also believe it may have felt lengthy because of its lack of visuals. If they had used more pictures, I believe that they could have made the paper more appealing. Additionally, I think they could have organized the article better, possibly by sectioning each topic off with a subheading. This would have made it easier for me to grasp the information in the piece. Despite its lack of visuals and organization though, I liked how the article had statistics and data to make their points convincing. Giving a lot of personal examples as well further validated the effectiveness of the pills and why more hospitals should take mental health into account.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves- And It's Working.” Time Health, © 2017 Time Inc. All Rights Reserved., 23 Aug. 2018, time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of Hoang’s review that was very effective was that he was able to condense the main points made in the article, which sometimes got lost in the numerous examples cited and the total length of the article. However, Hoang conveyed the points about how placebos have been used in the medical world for a while, how physiological aspects in a person’s body/mind interacting with a treatment along with the “bedside manner” in hospitals can help or hurt the response to treatment significantly, the concept of a “nocebo effect” in which negative perception of a condition intensifies severity, and the fact that the recent placebo findings are questionable in legitimacy all while citing only the most important of the many examples in the article: the IBS example, which is used repetitively and more than any other example. A second positive aspect of Hoang’s review was that the final paragraph consisted in several well-supported ways in which the article is strong and in which the article can improve: for example, the article indeed had no visuals and no subheadings distinguishing between its 4 or 5 main points (which made them often lost in all of the examples and total article length), and the article was often repetetive in how it used several examples to support 1 point (for example, once the statistics were used as well as the IBS example to describe the positive effects of placebos, the article doesn’t need yet another positive endorsement by some random Eastern medicine doctor in NM), and the article did indeed use a lot of statistics and personal examples. Another well-written aspect of Hoang’s article was that there were only five mechanical errors in his entire review (wrong use of “resonate” since the article can resonate with him, a person doesn’t resonate with writing; no comma between two independent clauses in first sentence of last paragraph, period/comma goes inside quotation, apostrophe needed after person’s name, should be, “This is known as the ‘nocebo effect,’ and it is often…”) and there were many uses of transitions and strong vocabulary.
One aspect that could be improved about the review was that nowhere was it mentioned in Hoang’s summary that it is not the use of placebos in general that was novel, but how the patients actually experienced healing effects even while knowing they were taking placebos. If this is not stated, it couldn’t be inferred by a reader without first reading the article. A second aspect of the article that could be improved is the “connection” paragraph: it would be stronger if he elaborated on what implementation of placebos he would support: should doctors be able to prescribe placebos, even in the place of an actual drug, or should people be able to buy placebos over the counter and do their own research? That would add more of his own societal application of the material.
I learned that not all of science is necessarily about “more and more precision.” Usually, “soft sciences” that approach behavior and physiology “from the outside” looking at purely natural remedies and outward symptoms (ie psychology) rather than developing cures at the granular, chemical level is scorned by people in the “hard sciences” community (biology, chemistry, etc.) who prefer to develop chemical cures for everything often in the form of drugs or genetic engineering. If the mind indeed can control the body’s healing processes to the point where just taking a placebo is a signal for the healing process, it would be important to understand the neuroscience behind it at a granular level, but it seems like much of the healing process can be fixed looking at it “from the outside.” This shows how it is important for people who get stuck in their own small scientific niche’s of very specific and granular research to look at the bigger picture.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves- And It's Working.” Time Health, © 2017 Time Inc. All Rights Reserved., 23 Aug. 2018, time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/.
ReplyDeleteThis example of placebo use in the beginning of this review very successfully portrays why discussions of placebos are important to medicine. Because the placebo is commonly seen as a pseudoscience, this real-world example was very well chosen as it persuades readers to consider the effects of the placebo more legitimate. Secondly, Jordan does a very good job a express her point of view regarding the use of placebos. She clearly states that she feels they should be researched and explored and clearly explains her reasoning. Finally, this review was very well written overall. The piece is well organized structure and features very few grammatical mistakes.
In the beginning of this article, Jordan could have provided slightly more background information. While she does define placebo, more information about how they work and how they are being used could have been beneficial to readers. Additionally, while Jordan makes it clear that she believes placebos should be used, she could provide more explanation into how this should be done. For instance, should more testing on the subject be done? How often and in what circumstances should placebos distributed?
Overall, this article review was very interesting to me and has left me curious about the use of placebos. I chose to read this piece as I have always found the use of placebos fascinating, but the examples this review provides about cases in which they really worked has significantly furthered my interest. Reading this review reminded me just how powerful our minds really are. Additionally, it has made me question whether many of the diseases we are currently treating with intensive medical care could really be helped simply using the power of believing.
Anabel Maldonado
ReplyDeleteBiology AB Even
Current Event Critique #2
September 20th, 2018
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” Time, Time, 23 Aug. 2018, http://time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/
Jordan’s review of the article “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” helped me understand this topic more clearly. She was able to explain what placebo pills are by stating an example of how they are now beneficial for people. She wrote about a woman named Linda who had bowel problems who tried to solve her medical issues with many different medications. However, nothing seemed to work. As a result, she consumed a placebo pill for a trial and it seemed to work. Jordan, also, wrote a clear and simple definition of what a placebo pill is. She clearly stated “pills with no active ingredients.” Personally, I prefer her simple explanations over some other classmates who overcomplicate these topics. One more thing that Jordan succeeded with was when she stated her opinions on this topic. Unlike other students, she personalized her review by relating herself to her audience (me) by stating, “I know that when I am stressed, I tend to get more headaches and stomaches. In this sense, I believe that more placebos should be utilized, or at least tried.”
Jordans’ review was terrific, but there are a few things that she could improve on. Even though she described the strengths and weaknesses of the article. I would have loved if she included something from the article that she believes made them stand out from others (other than the title). In addition, I would have liked if she described the “nocebo effect” in more depth, by maybe including an example. The reason I believe this is because personally I had to reread this section several times before fully comprehending what it meant.
One thing that I found fascinating which I now fully understand is the hypothesizes for why placebo pills are beneficial. Jordan thrived when explaining that Scientists believe placebo pills are effective because of the patients’ psychological state of mind. They believe that “Factors such as less stress, a good “bedside manner” (how a doctor treats the patient), and even the color of a pill have been known to increase the benefits of certain medications.” I found it intriguing that even the color of a pill can “activate” certain psychological thoughts which can ultimately cure a disease. However, personally, I believe that if this trend continues to be accurate and popular, ultimately it can replace medications in the professional medical field. Overall, Jordan’s review is one of my favorites because she incorporates her opinion while also describing the main points of the article in a simple way.
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” Time, Time, 23 Aug. 2018, http://time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/
ReplyDeleteJordan did many things well when reviewing the article she chose. Jordan gave a specific example of how the placebo pill has made an impact on the life of an individual when she talks about Linda Buonanno and her IBS. Explaining this example was beneficial because it gave the reader real life context of how placebo pills can be used, and it was also an interesting introduction to her summary paragraph. I also like how Jordan acknowledges the format in which Sifferlin’s article is presented. I agree with Jordan when she states that having clear headings and pictures makes an article much more enjoyable to read. This is important for an author to consider because a potential reader may decide not to read the author’s article if it is presented as long or overwhelming. In addition, Jordan not only talks about the placebo effect which is a subject familiar to many people, but she also mentions “the nocebo effect” which I had never heard of before. This supports Jordan’s original idea that a psychological mindset has the ability to control how good a person’s body feels while it can also intensify negative feelings.
There are two things I believe that Jordan could have improved on. Jordan writes, “I believe that more placebos should be utilized, or at least tried, in the medical field.” Jordan states this belief but does not address why placebos cannot be used more in the medical field. Jordan mentions trying to cure a headache or stomach ache with placebo pills, but over the counter medications are usually used to relieve these pains. If the person buying the medication knows it is a placebo pill, it ruins the whole placebo effect. On the other hand, if the medication is labeled as medication when it is really just a placebo, the customer is paying the price of the medication without there actually being any medication inside. Jordan also mentions that the statistics and data Sifferlin incorporated into her article made her points convincing, but Jordan does not give any examples of how Sifferlin does this. Incorporating an example would have helped the reader understand exactly how Sifferlin uses data and statistics and how this supported Sifferlin;s argument.
I really like the point that Jordan made about how hospitals should create “ a more conducive environment for healing.” Often times, we don’t realize that the way we treat others can have a large impact on them. In society, we often over diagnose and prescribe medication. This article demonstrates that physical healing is important, but addressing the psychological aspect of sickness and conditions is also very important, plus it helps reduce unnecessary medication prescriptions.
Christopher Hutchins
ReplyDeleteBiology D Even
Current Event Comment 2
10/8/18
Sifferlin, Alexandra. “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” Time, Time, 23 Aug. 2018, http://time.com/5375724/placebo-bill-health-problems/
Jordan’s review of the article “People Are Now Taking Placebo Pills to Treat Themselves.” was very interesting and helped me understand placebo pills. She explains what they are, and gives a specific example of the effect of the placebo pill. Linda Buonanno took placebo pills after trying other medications that failed to treat her bowel problems. Jordan also did a good job of writing a specific definition. It is short and quickly gives the reader an idea of the subject. That is important when writing a review. If the reader becomes lost in the description, they won’t be interested to read to full article. The piece was very well written, and contains few mistakes.
There could have been a little more background information at the beginning. She gives a very good description of the article topics, as well as depicting the motives of the author. This could have had more juice. She could have also given more information on the implementation of the placebos. She addresses that they should appear more than they do, but doesn’t state how. It would have been good to understand how often and under what circumstances the patient should take the placebo pills.
I learned a lot from this review of the article. I learned about the use of placebos, a subject I had never understood before. The real world examples provided in this article were fascinating and really allowed me to question the spaces we have yet to explore in science. There are many things that we haven’t discovered and the world is open to everything. Placebos are an example of a step in the right direction. If we continue, we can find answers to these pressing issues.