Side Effects Can Boost Treatment Success ?!

The 2024 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to a study exploring a surprising idea: can side effects actually make treatments work better? In this randomized trial, healthy volunteers were told they might receive a powerful pain-relief nasal spray before experiencing heat-induced pain. In reality, some received a spray that caused a mild burning sensation, while others got a neutral saline spray. Neither contained any actual medication. Here’s the twist: participants who experienced the mild side effect ended up reporting less pain than those who didn’t. But the result wasn’t just about physical sensation—it had a lot to do with expectation. This clever experiment opens the door to rethinking how we view side effects—not just as something to tolerate, but possibly as signals that enhance our belief in treatment. And that belief? It might be powerful enough to activate the brain’s own pain relief system. Want to know how they proved it and what it means for clinical trials? Check out the full episode and don’t forget to subscribe. Watch on YouTube with subtitles: https://youtube.com/@whatthestudysays?si=uBrAmOvBiEvvzDOe Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/what-the-study-says/id1814559387 FLink: https://open.firstory.me/user/cmao5odis0eyf01w36mahd8ub/platforms Tell us what you think:https://open.firstory.me/user/cmao5odis0eyf01w36mahd8ub/comments Powered by Firstory Hosting