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→"Nonsense": It was use the definition or ditch the only reference in the article.
== "Nonsense" ==
== "Nonsense" ==
It is not nonsense that a placebo is defined as a substance that has no effect on human beings. The [[placebo effect]] is a phenomenon that deserves its own entry, but can be considered separately from the issue of the definition of placebo. Someone who is administered an active agent like epinepherine or insulin will show physiological effects even if they are unaware of the administration; the same is not true for placebos, which cause no physiological changes if the subject is unaware of the administration. To claim that a placebo is not inert because the placebo effect exists ignores the defining characteristic of a placebo.
It is not nonsense that a placebo is defined as a substance that has no effect on human beings. The [[placebo effect]] is a phenomenon that deserves its own entry, but can be considered separately from the issue of the definition of placebo. Someone who is administered an active agent like epinepherine or insulin will show physiological effects even if they are unaware of the administration; the same is not true for placebos, which cause no physiological changes if the subject is unaware of the administration. To claim that a placebo is not inert because the placebo effect exists ignores the defining characteristic of a placebo.
:I inserted the definition from the CDC mainly because the only reference at that point in the article was to the definition, yet the definition (which was the only mention of "placebo" on the cited page) was nowhere in the article. It was a choice of either ditch the reference or use the definition, and as there were no other references I went with the latter. Please try to be kinder in your edit comments - we are all doing our little bit to improve the article, even if it's not perfect. (Also - I'm glad to see there are now references - medical articles with no references (or with only a reference to a definition) scare me.) --[[User:Hsmom|Hsmom]] 16:58, 2 December 2008 (EST)