0:00:03.189,0:00:07.670
Hmmm, who's that moaning? [br]Oh, Fug has a headache.

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And his joints hurt, and his stomach too.

0:00:12.462,0:00:14.993
Thank goodness Vera's there.

0:00:15.023,0:00:18.960
She's taking care of him and[br]waiting on him hand and foot.

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And there are still a few of[br]Dr Vera's chocolate tablets left.

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Ah, I'm already feeling much better.

0:00:36.920,0:00:40.565
But that can't be.[br]That was just a placebo.

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Placebo? What's that again?

0:00:44.594,0:00:48.723
Who can explain it better than Dr. Mo?

0:00:49.384,0:00:52.275
A placebo is a fake medicine.

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A true placebo doesn't contain[br]any kind of real medicine.

0:00:55.995,0:00:58.534
It's usually just made up[br]of sugar and starch.

0:00:58.715,0:01:00.993
So it shouldn't have any kind of effect.

0:01:01.604,0:01:04.314
The latin word 'placebo' is translated as:

0:01:04.545,0:01:06.735
'I shall please'

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which basically means 'I will help.'

0:01:10.607,0:01:13.045
So placebos do work!

0:01:13.180,0:01:17.605
Even the ancient Greeks knew about[br]the effects of placebos.

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Plato wrote over 2000 years ago

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that a certain medicinal herb[br]would only work

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if it was administered[br]together with a spell.

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But without the spell it would be useless.

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This remedy worked without any[br]active ingredient being inside it

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and that's known as the 'placebo effect.'

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Doctors are still being taken by surprise [br]by this, even in modern times.

0:01:39.725,0:01:43.788
An American military doctor used[br]exactly this trick during World War Two.

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At the front they eventually[br]ran out of morphine

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that the wounded soldiers[br]could take for their pain.

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So instead, the doctor secretly administered[br]table salt.

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The effect was exactly the same.

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Many of the soldiers experienced[br]hardly any pain.

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This completely confounded him.

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But now we know that

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a placebo works exactly like a painkiller[br]in sparking pain inhibitors in the brain.

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Substances in the body's defence system[br]are released to suppress the pain.

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So just seeing the doctor has an effect.

0:02:21.313,0:02:25.308
The patient expects to be given help.

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Sometimes the pain recedes as soon as[br]the patient enters the doctor's surgery.

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The patient sees that they get better[br]every time they go to the doctor.

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The placebo effect is therefore[br]often the result of a learning experience.

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The doctor himself has[br]a large part to play.

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Through his empathy and care

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he can do a lot for the healing process.

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Just in the giving of genuine medicines

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there's a placebo effect at work.

0:02:57.119,0:03:02.109
The expectation that medicine will help[br]and that doctors heal

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supports the healing process.

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It works best

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when a patient has[br]complete faith in their doctor.

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No problem for Vera and Fug,[br]as they are very fond of one another.

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Fug isn't really ill anyway.[br]He was just feeling a bit unwell.

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Now he's feeling much better

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and that's purely down to[br]Vera's loving care.

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