The more you know about the placebo effect, the more you need to think positively.

1. Doctors designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project

2. Placebo
Anything that seems
to be a real medical
treatment, but isn’t.
Source: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect Candy designed by Julia Soderberg from the Noun Project

3. Source: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect Image designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
Placebo Effect
People can have a positive or negative
response to a fake treatment.

4. Positive Placebo Effect
Your symptoms improve
Image designed Arjun Mahanti from the Noun ProjectSource: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect

5. Negative Placebo Effect
You experience side effects
Image designed Adam Mullin from the Noun ProjectSource: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect

6. Placebo Effect
The change
produced by the
treatment.
Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-content/
uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf
Image designed by Juan Pavlo Bravo
from the Noun Project

7. The Placebo Effect is the Placebo Response minus
any changes that would have occurred without the
treatment.
Example: 30 days after taking a fake treatment for
the common cold, the Placebo Response will be
close to 100%; there will be no Placebo Effect.
Image designed by DonBLC123
from the Noun Project
Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-content/
uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf

8. Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf
Some conditions are
subject to the Placebo
Effect, but others are not.
Image designed by Andrew Nolte from the Noun Project

9. Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf
Significant Placebo Effect
has been observed:
- Depression
- Irritable bowel syndrome
Image designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project

10. Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf
Significant Placebo Effect has not been observed:
- Infertility
- Bacterial infections
- Hyperglycemia
- Common cold
- Marital discord
- Hurricanes*
Image designed by Gilad Fried from the Noun Project
* Just checking if you are paying attention

11. The Placebo Effect is more
than just a conditioned
response.
(Pavlov’s dog does not
explain this effect.)
Image designed by Norman Ying from the Noun Project
Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf

12. Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-content/
uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf
“Until recently, the
history of medical
treatment is essentially
the history of the
Placebo Effect.”
- Bloodletting
- Crocodile dung
- Pig’s teeth
- Powdered stone
Image designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project

13. Want to increase the Placebo Effect?
Image designed by Mister Pixel from the Noun Project

14. “Spend more time with patients and take more care
forming a therapeutic alliance.”
Image designed by Daniel Behrends from the Noun Project
Source: http://programinplacebostudies.org/wp-content/
uploads/2011/10/2013-lessons-learned2.pdf

15. “The more care people got –
even if it was fake – the better
they tended to fare.”
Source: http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/01/the-placebo-phenomenon Image designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project

16. Source: http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/01/the-placebo-phenomenon
Tell people that they are
receiving a placebo, but
also explain that placebos
often have healing
effects.
Image designed by Fernando Rojas Braga from the Noun Project

17. Source: http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/01/the-placebo-phenomenon
“Even patients who knew
they were getting
placebos described real
improvement, reporting
twice as much symptom
relief as the no-
treatment group.”
Image designed by Scott Lewis from the Noun Project

18. Source: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/
when-a-placebo-might-be-the-best-drug/index.htm
“A doctor’s verbal cues may
trigger patient expectations
that can alter symptoms for
better or worse.”
Image designed by Hakin Yalcin from the Noun Project

19. “The identification of a patient’s problem along
with an upbeat prognosis can be enough to
prompt a Placebo Effect.”
Image designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project
Source: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/
when-a-placebo-might-be-the-best-drug/index.htm

20. There are limits, or at least we think there are…
“It’s unreasonable to think a placebo treatment will shrink a
tumor, but we know it can relieve nausea and pain.”
Image designed by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project
Source: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/
when-a-placebo-might-be-the-best-drug/index.htm

21. Image designed by Martin Hanzl from the Noun Project

22. Created by ghostwriter
Bruce Kasanoff. To
learn more, visit
Kasanoff.com.