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PLACEBOS can have exactly the same effect as an active drug, producing a
genuine chemical response in the body.

The placebo effect is well-known: if you tell someone that taking a certain
pill will make them better, it often does鈥攅ven if it鈥檚 just a dummy.
People with Parkinson鈥檚 disease respond especially well to placebos.

Jon Stoessl and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver gave six people with Parkinson鈥檚 either a placebo or the active drug
apomorphine鈥攚hich stimulates the release of dopamine. Neither researchers
nor patients knew which was which at the time.

The placebo alone triggered a substantial release of dopamine in every
patient who took it. The effect was comparable to that produced by levodopa, one
of the best drugs for Parkinson鈥檚.

The researchers think the effect may have been triggered by the patients鈥�
expectations鈥攁 type of brain activity mediated by dopamine. 鈥淚t could be a
non-specific faith or a memory that allows you to expect reward,鈥� says Stoessl.
He points out that all the patients had previously learned that taking the drugs
could help them. But it is less clear why placebos help people suffering from
pain or depression.