HealthFirst reporter Leslie Toldo has more about what doctors and some parents have to say.
Researchers at Penn State say over-the-counter cough syrups work no better than placebos, so some parents have taken that to heart, and are treating their kids' colds and tummy aches with a shot full of nothing.
"When I was in Pre-K-1, I got sick," Eden Levin recalled.
When do you give medication to kids, and when do you hold off?
"Doctors don't believe in what I do," Barack Levin said.
Levin chooses placebos to help his children. "The placebo effect, for me, is to give the kids the feeling that they're taking medication when they're not really taking anything."
"It looks a little like juice, but it's not a kinda juice. It's a medicine that's red," Eden said.
One dose usually does it. But experts like psychologist Tor Wager believe parents could end up playing a dangerous game of deception. "It's not just mind over matter. It's dangerous for the relationship and for trust in medicine."
At least one study shows that placebos can be effective, even if the children know what they are. Seventy children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were asked to reduce their medications gradually by replacing some of the drugs with placebo pills.
"In A-D-H-D in kids, you can reduce the dose of the real medicine, substitute placebo pills and get the same effect on A-D-H-D," claimed Dr. Walter Brown.
After three months, 80 percent of the children reported that the placebo had helped them. In another child's study of 83 kids with irritable bowel syndrome, 57 percent felt better after placebo. Two percent felt worse. Barack does agree with doctors when it comes to putting the placebo away. He says that if his child's problem does not go away within a few hours, he will give them medication or take them to a doctor.
For the most part, though, he says his plan works.
So many parents are turning to placebos that there is now a company called "Efficacy Brands" that sells chewable, cherry-flavored dextrose tablets.
Obecalp is placebo spelled backwards. Fifty pills run around $6.
PLACEBO BACKGROUND: According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a placebo is usually a pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder, something that is tending to soothe. The use of placebo pills is often compared to "mind over matter" healing. Placebo is an important phony treatment used to keep doctors and patients honest in clinical trials. It is used to prove if a drug works. Placebo pills are commonly used in birth control packs to ensure that you do not fall out of habit and keep an everyday pattern (Source: Associated Content). Recently, new studies show that nearly half of United States doctors surveyed have prescribed a placebo pill at some point. This high use of placebos has ignited ethical questions among many doctors. (Source: Reuters)
PLACEBOS AND ADHD: Placebos are making their mark in the world of ADHD prescriptions. According to Science Daily, a study out of Chapel Hill showed a significant percentage of children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder doing just as well when taking placebo to replace some of their daily medications. The study indicated that children can be treated with lower doses of medication with a placebo supplement.
Researchers have also found that there are four ways a placebo can have an effect on ADHD patients:
1. Child expects change with direct use of a medication.
2. Positive change of caregiver's perception of children who think they are taking medication.
3. Positive change in how caregivers behave towards children with ADHD who think they are on medication.
4. Routine behavioral improvement when connected to administering a placebo pill. (Source: Psych Central)
OBECALP AND EFFICACY BRANDS: Obecalp, "placebo" spelled backwards, is a chewable, cherry-flavored sugar pill marketed to parents to comfort children who are not feeling well. Obecalp is the first standardized, branded and pharmaceutical-grade placebo in the world. Obecalp is produced as a dietary supplement and is not FDA approved because it does contain any drugs. Obecalp is available online at http://www.inventedbyamommy.com.
