A survey recently showed that the use of placebos may be more widespread than thought, as many medics prefer this solution in order to get positive patient expectations.

The survey was conducted on 1,200 medicine physicians and rheumatologists who deal with patients suffering from chronic conditions that are usually harder to manage. The results could be named as spectacular as 61% of the 57% of the doctors who answered to the survey said that it is ethically acceptable to recommend placebos to patients as long as positive expectations are visible.

Most of the doctors prescribe over the counter painkillers or vitamins not the traditional placebo, which was just a pill that did nothing.

The use of placebos in medicine was very common back in the 1960’s when doctors would usually prescribe sugar pills that did nothing as “special, effective treatments.” It is very important to understand that placebos are not a scam and that because of theories advanced by people like Sigmund Freud, these treatments could actually work. The mind controls the body and in medicine it’s well known that a fighting patient has more chances than one who lost all hope. The mind's control over the pathological is a very hard thing to explain, even by today’s standards; the fact is that there is a connection between the two.

Though doctors say that prescribing vitamins, antibiotics or painkillers as placebos is not an ethical issue, some say that the use of these drugs in such a way may lead to serious negative consequences for both doctors and patients.