A strange concept exists in the world of medicine: the nocebo effect. Often called the ‘evil twin’ of the placebo effect, the nocebo effect is the phenomenon whereby a person develops negative outcomes or side effects while using a drug or a therapy because they believe it may occur.
Simply put, a person will experience harmful effects because, whether consciously or unconsciously, they are anticipating them. The word ‘nocebo’ comes from the Latin ‘to harm’.
If it sounds made-up, there is actual proof of it happening with the vaccines that were produced to protect people against severe COVID-19.
In a 2022 study published in JAMA Network, scientists in the U.S. reviewed data from 12 clinical trials and reported that 76% of all common adverse reactions after the first dose and nearly 52% of all common adverse reactions after receiving an inactive saline solution were due to the nocebo effect rather than actual side effects.
The finding suggested that a big chunk of mild side-effects – including headaches, short-term fatigue, and arm pain – that all participants of the study experienced were not due to the vaccines but rather a nocebo response, including anxiety or even attributing other symptoms mistakenly.
This study focused on mild side effects and not severe ones like clotting or heart inflammation, which the vaccines were originally designed to prevent.
Studies of the nocebo effect are fairly new but have been garnering more attention from the scientific community. In fact, a group of scientists, led by Charlotte Blease, a researcher at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at Uppsala University, recently published a book entitled ‘The Nocebo Effect: When Words Make You Sick’, discussing it in detail.
“I think it’s the idea that words really matter,” Dr Blease said in a press release. “It’s fascinating that how we communicate can affect the outcome.”
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