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JACI Highlights - September 2009Optimistic presentation of placebo medication improves asthma controlModulation of the placebo effect by the way that a drug is presented to the patient is well established for pain treatments but has not been extensively studied in asthma. The ALA-ACRC conducted a placebo-controlled, randomized trial of montelukast in participants with poorly controlled asthma. Half of those in each group were given the 4-week study treatment with a neutral message that was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the efficacy of the treatment. The other half of each treatment group was given a personal as well as a computer-based presentation that promoted the potential benefits of the treatment. Physiologic measures of lung function and airways reactivity were not improved by the optimistic message. A concurrent group of usual care patients had lower average daily peak flow measures than those given a placebo capsule, suggesting that there is a true placebo effect of drug administration. Self-reported measures of asthma control were improved in the placebo group that received the optimistic message. The montelukast group did not show improved asthma control with the optimistic message in comparison with the neutral message. This study, which appears in the September 2009 issue of The Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, demonstrates that there is a placebo effect in asthma that can be manipulated by optimistic drug presentation but that it cannot be used to increase the efficacy of an active agent such as montelukast. “Randomized Trial of the Effect of Drug Presentation on Asthma Outcomes” by Wise et al. (JACI September 2009 Volume 124 No. 3). |
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© 1996-2009 · All Rights Reserved · American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology |
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