The power of the placebo effect - Emma Bryce

翻译人员: Jinyu Wang 校对人员: Jiawei Ni

In 1996, 56 volunteers took part in a study

1996年 56个志愿者参加了一项研究

to test a new painkiller called Trivaricaine.

测试一种名叫Trivaricaine的止痛药

On each subject, one index finger was covered in the new painkiller

每个实验对象的一个食指涂上这个新型止痛药

while the other remained untouched.

另一个食指保持原样

Then, both were squeezed in painful clamps.

然后 两个食指都用钳子使劲夹住

The subjects reported that the treated finger hurt less than the untreated one.

实验对象都表示那个涂了药的食指没有另一只疼

This shouldn't be surprising,

这本应该没什么好惊讶的

except Trivaricaine wasn't actually a painkiller,

除了Trivaricaine本身并不是一种止痛药以外

just a fake concotion with no pain-easing properties at all.

只是一个假的混合物 没有任何缓解疼痛的成分

What made the students so sure this dummy drug had worked?

是什么让这些学生坚信这个假冒的药有效的呢

The answer lies in the placebo effect,

答案就是安慰剂效应

an unexplained phenomenon

一种至今原因不明的现象

wherein drugs, treatments, and therapies that aren't supposed to have an effect,

发生在使用那些本应该没有效果的药物 手术和治疗上

and are often fake,

一般都是假的

miraculously make people feel better.

却奇迹般地使人们感到好转

Doctors have used the term placebo since the 1700s

医生们从18世纪开始使用安慰剂这个术语

when they realized the power of fake drugs to improve people's symptoms.

那时他们开始意识到假药的作用 能够改善病人的症状

These were administered when proper drugs weren't available,

当合适的药品短缺时 他们会使用这种治疗方法

or if someone imagined they were ill.

或者有些人幻想自己生病的时候

In fact, the word placebo means "I shall please" in Latin,

实际上 安慰剂这个词 在拉丁语里是“我会好起来”的意思

hinting at a history of placating troubled patients.

暗示着安抚受病痛折磨的病人已有一段历史

Placebos had to mimic the real treatments in order to be convincing,

安慰剂要模仿真正的治疗以达到使人信服的目的

so they took the form of sugar pills,

所以他们选择糖丸

water-filled injections,

注射水

and even sham surgeries.

甚至假手术的形式

Soon, doctors realized that duping people in this way had another use:

很快 医生意识到 这样蒙骗人们还有另一种用途

in clinical trials.

用于临床试验

By the 1950s, researchers were using placebos as a standard tool

直到二十世纪五十年代 研究人员将安慰剂作为一种标准工具

to test new treatments.

来测试新的治疗方法

To evaluate a new drug, for instance,

例如 测试一种新药

half the patients in a trial might receive the real pill.

一半的临床病人可能会服用真的药丸

The other half would get a placebo that looked the same.

另一半则会服用看起来一模一样的安慰剂

Since patients wouldn't know whether they'd received the real thing or a dud,

药丸病人并不知道他们服用的是真的药还是个没用的

the results wouldn't be biased,

因此 研究人员相信

researchers believed.

结果是准确的

Then, if the new drug showed a significant benefit compared to the placebo,

于是 如果这种新药比起安慰剂对病人有很明显的改善

it was proved effective.

那么这种新药就是有效的

Nowadays, it's less common to use placebos this way because of ethical concerns.

如今 通过安慰剂的这种方法已经不常见了 因为涉及到道德问题

If it's possible to compare a new drug against an older version,

只要能够将新药和以前的药

or another existing drug,

或者其他存在的药对比

that's preferable to simply giving someone no treatment at all,

就比完全不给病人提供治疗要好

especially if they have a serious ailment.

尤其是病人患有十分严重的疾病时

In these cases, placebos are often used as a control to fine-tune the trial

在这些情况下 安慰剂常用于控制变量来微调试验

so that the effects of the new versus the old or alternative drug

这样新药的效果能够与 以前的药或者其他代替药

can be precisely compared.

更准确的比较

But of course, we know the placebos exert their own influence, too.

当然 我们知道安慰剂也发挥着其自身的作用

Thanks to the placebo effect,

多亏了安慰剂效应

patients have experienced relief from a range of ailments,

很多病的病人病情得到缓解

including heart problems,

包括心脏问题

asthma,

哮喘

and severe pain,

还有剧痛

even though all they'd received was a fake drug or sham surgery.

及时他们只是服用了假药或者经历了假手术

We're still trying to understand how.

我们仍在尝试去理解其背后的原因

Some believe that instead of being real,

有些人认为 安慰剂效果都不是真的

the placebo effect is merely confused with other factors,

仅仅是被其他因素所迷惑了

like patients trying to please doctors by falsely reporting improvements.

只是病人为了取悦医生而错误地报告病情

On the other hand,

另一方面

researchers think that if a person believes a fake treatment is real,

研究人员认为如果 一个人相信假药的可行性

their expectations of recovery actually do trigger physiological factors

他们的对康复的期待程度 才是触发心理因素的关键

that improve their symptoms.

是改善病症的关键

Placebos seem to be capable of causing measurable change in blood pressure,

安慰剂看起来是可以对血压

heart rate,

心率

and the release of pain-reducing chemicals, like endorphins.

以及减轻痛觉的化学物质的释放有显著作用的 就像安多芬

That explains why subjects in pain studies often say placebos ease their discomfort.

这也解释了为什么实验对象在痛觉研究时经常感觉 安慰剂缓解了他们的不适

Placebos may even reduce levels of stress hormones,

安慰剂甚至能够降低应激激素水平

like adrenaline,

如肾上腺素

which can slow the harmful effects of an ailment.

它是可以缓解病症不良反应的

So shouldn't we celebrate the placebo's bizarre benefits?

所以我们应不应该庆幸安慰剂的神奇功效呢

Not necessarily.

不一定

If somebody believes a fake treatment has cured them,

如果有的人相信假的治疗方法可以治愈他们

they may miss out on drugs or therapies that are proven to work.

他们可能会忽略真正被证明有效的药物和治疗

Plus, the positive effects may fade over time,

另外 这些有效的作用 可能会随着时间的流逝而消失

and often do.

而且普遍都是

Placebos also cloud clinical results,

安慰剂总是影响诊断结果

making scientists even more motivated to discover

使得科学家们更有动力研究

how they wield such power over us.

安慰剂是如何产生如此巨大影响的

Despite everything we know about the human body,

尽管我们了解人体的各个方面

there are still some strange and enduring mysteries,

但仍有很多奇怪的 仍然存在的未解之谜

like the placebo effect.

比如安慰剂效应

So what other undiscovered marvels might we contain?

那么我们还有些什么没有被发现的奇迹呢

It's easy to investigate the world around us

探索这个世界很容易

and forget that one of its most fascinating subjects

人们也很容易遗忘 这个世界上最迷人的事物

lies right behind our eyes.

就是我们自己