The placebo and nocebo effects in functional urology.

A placebo is an inert substance normally used in clinical trials for comparison with an active substance. However, a placebo has been shown to have an effect on its own; commonly known as the placebo effect. A placebo is an essential component in the design of conclusive clinical trials but has itself become the focus of intense research.

Choosing the Most Efficacious and Safe Oral Treatment for Idiopathic Overactive Bladder: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

Context: The choice of the most efficacious drug for patients with idiopathic overactive bladder (IOAB) remains challenging.

Objective: The aim of this network meta-analysis was to determine the most efficacious oral antimuscarinic or β-adrenoceptor agonist accounting for adverse events for the management of IOAB.

Evidence Acquisition: A comprehensive electronic search was done in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, and Ovid for studies in any language in February 2021 considering the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement.

Medical practice and placebo response: an inseparable bond?

The history of medicine and the history of placebo are closely intertwined. To understand placebo and its effects this article gives a brief overview about its history, the possible mechanisms of action and its counterpart, nocebo.The Catholic Church used placebo around the sixteenth century for the separation from real and incorrect exorcisms, but it needed Henry Beecher during World War II to quantify the placebo effect as control arm in well-designed studies.