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From: werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Fake treatment shown to relieve back pain.
Message-ID: <1761@aecom.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Jun-85 02:32:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: aecom.1761
Posted: Thu Jun 20 02:32:39 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Jun-85 11:12:45 EDT
Distribution: na
Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY
Lines: 31

The following comes from the New York Daily News:

A summary:
A British study looked at 3 kinds of treatment for backache. 1) Manipulation
as practiced by an osteopath, 2) Conventional Heat Treatment (diathermy), and
3) Fake Diathermy Treatment.
	The results:

			Feel better		Feel Worse
	Conventional	   59%			   12%
	Manipulation	   62%			   11%
	Fake Treatment	   67%			    9%

Quotes:
	"When it comes to treating back pain, fake treatment works as well as
the real thing and unorthodox therapy is as effective as the established kind."

	"The third got the same diathermy treatment, complete with electric
noises and flashing lights, except that the machine had been rendered
inactive."

	"Two lessons can be drawn from the experiment, the doctors report in
Lancet, a British medical journal.  The first is that claims for effectiveness
of unorthodox treatment should get close scrutiny.  The second is that 'our
results almost certainly attest th the magnitude of the placebo response
which may be acheived when harmless treatments are applied with conviction.' "

-- 
				Craig Werner
				!philabs!aecom!werner
		"The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"