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Side Effects and Placebo Amplification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Richard Thomson
Richard Thomson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Summary

A sample of placebo-controlled tricyclic antidepressant studies was examined retrospectively to determine whether there was any difference in the relative efficacy of the tricyclic when it was compared against an inert placebo as against an active (atropine) placebo with anticholinergic side effects. Fewer studies showed a significant difference between atropine placebo and drug than between inert placebo and drug. The possibilities that atropine has a specific antidepressant effect or that side effects amplify placebo responses are considered.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 140 , Issue 1 , January 1982 , pp. 64 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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