comprehensive -WSS

comprehensive

author：explore 2025-09-07 04:08:23 - browse：3339

Have you ever taken phenylephrine for a stuffed-up nose and then felt better? If so, you might have been perplexed when Food and Drug Administration experts recently said that that the drug — which is in some versions of DayQuil, Sudafed, and other medicines — is no more effective than a placebo.

But to Michael H. Bernstein, an assistant professor of diagnostic imaging at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, it all makes sense. Bernstein says that “no better than a placebo” still means that it works, sort of. “If we expect to feel better, then we probably will,” he told me. And that complicates the idea of what medical treatment “works.”

On this episode of the “First Opinion Podcast,” we discuss the placebo effect and its counterpart, the “nocebo effect” — if you tell patients something will make them feel worse, it generally comes true. “You’re better off hearing from a doctor something to the effect of 3 out of 4 patients who take this drug have no side effects at all versus 25% of people who take this drug do get side effects,” he said.

Bernstein also shared the delightful story of how he got into the “medical expectations” field, which started with an experiment in which he had to convince underage students that they were drinking alcohol when they weren’t.

Our conversation was based on a First Opinion Bernstein recently wrote with Grayson L. Baird, “Phenylephrine is no better than a placebo. What if that’s still better than nothing?”

Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Previous article： Medical records are filled with copy
Next article： Retired US general questions alleged Putin, Prigozhin meeting

WSS

Health care needs a new profession: neuroimaging counseling

Dogs on Prozac: What pet anti

Study: Pain burden is higher in Black NFL players than white ones

Palantir health business leans on meeting customers’ needs

Orangutan used medicinal plant to treat wound, first time ever seen

Cell therapy fails to slow type 1 diabetes, but safety is established

hotspot

comprehensive

hotspot

Medicare details structure of new drug price negotiation program

Bird flu in milk supply is likely coming from asymptomatic cows

Heart attack and stroke risk calculators need revising

UnitedHealth financials solid despite Change Healthcare cyberattack

Anesthesiologist group: stop taking Ozempic before surgery

Palantir health business leans on meeting customers’ needs

The cancer drug shortage isn’t new — and neither are the solutions

Leqembi, other new Alzheimer’s drugs require better biomarkers

State Dept. review finds Biden bears some blame for Afghanistan failures

It's time to get medical device identifiers over the finish line

knowledge

More tobacco lobbyists active in statehouses

Getting Alzheimer's drug Leqembi to patients can be a challenge

UnitedHealth financials solid despite Change Healthcare cyberattack

Threats against the LGBTQIA+ community intensifying: Department of Homeland Security

Beach reads and more: STAT's 2023 summer book list

HCA discloses massive data breach affecting 11 million patients

leisure time

focus

entertainment

entertainment