The Placebo effect

A poll involving 783 Gps in which 97% admitted that they had recommended a sugar pill or a treatment with no established efficacy for the ailment their patient came in with. Statistics suggested 1 out of 10 doctors gave their patients a sugar pill or an injection of salty water rather then medication such as antibiotics or benzodiazepines .

This approach to patients health is a positive sign,since antibiotics medication for problems such as ear infections or throat infections can be treated with rest and fluids. Paediatric Drs prescribing antibiotics in America for ear infections have been thought to have accelerated the antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospitals and is becoming a problem within UK hospital wards.

Prescription pills such as benzodiazepines are known to only work on a patients with certain genes and for others have a large number of other patients can carry a number of side effects such as weight gain panic attacks and even  death if mixed with other pharmaceuticals or foods.

sourced from bbc news & PLOS Study