false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg 187092 2 <p> A mere "symbol" of medicine--the sugar pill, saline injection, doctor in a white lab coat--the placebo nonetheless sometimes produces "real" results. Medical science has largely managed its discomfort with this phenomenon by discounting the placebo effect, subtracting it as an impurity in its data through double-blind tests of new treatments and drugs. This book is committed to a different perspective--namely, that the placebo effect is a "real" entity in its own right, one that has much to teach us about how symbols, settings, and human relationships literally get under our skin. </p><p> Anne Harrington's introduction and a historical overview by Elaine Shapiro and the late Arthur Shapiro, which open the book, review the place of placebos in the history of medicine, investigate the current surge in interest in them, and probe the methodological difficulties of saying scientifically just what placebos can and cannot do. Combining individual essays with a dialogue among writers from fields as far-flung as cultural anthropology and religion, pharmacology and molecular biology, the book aims to expand our ideas about what the placebo effect is and how it should be seen and studied. At the same time, the book uses the challenges and questions raised by placebo phenomena to initiate a broader interdisciplinary discussion about our nature as cultural animals: animals with minds, brains, and bodies that somehow manage to integrate "biology" and "culture," "mechanism" and "meaning," into a seamless whole. </p> 1892078 1997 The Placebo Effect: An Interdisciplinary Exploration total:6|5:1|4:1|3:3|2:1| 6 20 11 0 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 0 0 false Sun Aug 16 22:36:11 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 22:36:11 -0700 2009 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 0 0 false Wed Jun 17 01:15:48 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 01:16:01 -0700 2009 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 3 0 false Sun Apr 26 16:29:17 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 16:29:17 -0700 2009 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 4 0 false Wed Nov 12 16:39:40 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 12 16:39:40 -0800 2008 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 0 0 false Wed Oct 15 22:39:52 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 15 22:39:52 -0700 2008 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 0 0 false Tue Aug 05 14:31:55 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 14:31:55 -0700 2008 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 3 0 false Sat Jul 19 23:32:19 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 19 23:32:19 -0700 2008 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 0 0 false Tue Mar 25 23:02:55 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 23:03:02 -0700 2008 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 3 0 false Wed Jan 02 06:57:45 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 06:57:55 -0800 2008 1890726 0674669843 9780674669840 1 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189863153m/1890726.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1890726.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 2 0 false Sat Sep 15 06:32:33 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 15 06:32:33 -0700 2007 187092 067466986X 9780674669864 5 0 3.33 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537204m/187092.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187092.The_Placebo_Effect_An_Interdisciplinary_Exploration 5 0 false Sat Jun 09 06:01:09 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 09 06:01:09 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=187092