Lansing Sun

A medical researcher at Michigan State University, Darwin Guevarra, recently spoke on "The Frank Beckmann Show" about a new study that looks at placebos and how they can still be effective, even when people are aware of them.

In his research, Guevarra found that even when people are aware that they're getting a placebo, the mind can be a powerful tool in getting better.

"If I was a betting man -- and I am -- I would’ve bet that it would’ve worked," Guevarra said on the radio show. "So there’s other studies that showed that it worked for different conditions -- for example, lower back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches. So they show that it works for that, and so I assumed that it would work for emotional distress also."

Guevarra said the purpose of the study was not to deceive people into thinking they were getting actual medication, but rather they were aware that what they were receiving was only a placebo.

"Educating them about the placebos and then giving them a placebo and then having them take that medication every day, you see improvements," Guevarra said. "So it’s more than just thinking about it, I think. It’s the ritual of taking the treatment."

Guevarra said the power of the mind definitely helps and that there were multiple studies done.

"So we had two studies," Guevarra told Beckmann. "The first one we had 62 (participants) and then the second one had about 198."

Guevarra said the studies were still ongoing.

"So this is the first step," Guevarra said on the radio program. "We’re doing a followup study right now… We’re going to test it out in a real-life situation. So instead of just looking at pictures, it’s going to be real-life stress and seeing if works for that."

Guevarra said in the future, the "placebo effect without deception" could be used to treat different stressors.