The doctor knows that people taking the medicine may sleep better just because they expect the medicine to work. How can he be sure of whether the medicine really works?

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Chemistry

18 May, 00:43

The doctor knows that people taking the medicine may sleep better just because they expect the medicine to work. How can he be sure of whether the medicine really works?

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Tristin Benson · Answer 1

The best test would be doing a double-blind test between the person who is receiving the medicine so that they don't know if they received a placebo or not and the person giving the medicine does not know if the participant is receiving a placebo or not.

However, a placebo test can simply be done. This is where the patient received a medicine that does not have any medicinal effects and see if the person sleeps better. If they say they did, they have fallen under the placebo effect.