The answer to all three questions is no. It appears that belief, operant conditioning, and suggestibility all play important roles. This occurred at a treadmill setting of 44. This dramatically demonstrates the power of suggestion. Contrary to popular belief, placebos can be harmful.
Patients can become dependent on nonscientific practitioners who employ placebo therapies.
And patients can be led to believe that diseases are only amenable to a specific type of treatment from a specific practitioner. On the other hand, the practitioner can also be blinded to the real disease because of being convinced that the patient's condition is only imagined. The use of placebos can undermine the doctor-patient relationship by requiring deception on the part of the caregiver. The quack who relies on a placebo effect is also pretending he knows what he is doing-that he can tell what is wrong with you and that he has effective treatment for just about everything . It is imperative that skeptics recognize the wisdom and warnings inherent in this statement.