# Placebos work even when the patient knows it's a placebo ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placebos-work-even-when-the-patient-knows-its-a-placebo/840564>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 20, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placebos-work-even-when-the-patient-knows-its-a-placebo/840564 "2019-09-20T14:53:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placebos-work-even-when-the-patient-knows-its-a-placebo/840564/41 "2019-09-25T05:40:32Z")

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> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#):
>
> Why should it be the case that being told it’s a placebo eliminates the effect? This would require that the placebo effect is due to a patient’s conscious knowledge, which seems rather dubious.

That should probably say ‘solely due to’—I don’t doubt that it does have a role to play, but it needn’t be the sole determining factor.

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