Here's an interesting commentary on the nature of placebos; those inert wonder drugs that work by suggestion alone. The premise of this thoughtful piece is not so much to prove that placebos are effective in treating many symptoms (which they are), but to try and find a new name for this class of wonder drugs that means something other than "fake".
I must admit that I rather like the name "placebo", and have even thought that if someone marketed an OTC medication called "placebo" that it would be sucked off the shelves like cough syrup. Since the author of this think-piece could not come up with any decent suggestions, I would like to suggest the name "PNMs" for pills of this type. This would be an acronym for "Psycho-Neural Medication", which is just a fancy way of saying medications that work by suggestion, or "placebo". How do you think a patient would feel if they were put on PNMs for their headaches, or were told they needed treatment with "psycho-neural meds" for their fatigue and mood disorder. This would surely prick up their ears more than "placebo" or "sugar pills". Don't you think?
