In another experiment, a pregnant woman complaining of nausea was given a powerful emetic and told that it would relive her discomfort. Even though the medication should have made things worse, her nausea disappeared within minutes. But placebos work only when administered by a person of authority who has created serious expectation of a cure. You can't just dispense distilled water in a capsule and call it a placebo. To be effective placebos need to be dispensed along with a good story.
Science fiction works best.
To this end, advertising for food supplements has usurped some of medicine's authority. Companies like Rexall, KAL, and GNC have become the New-Age tribal Shaman. With self-administered vitamin concoctions, prayer groups and aura tune ups, alternative medicine has become the largest social movement in the United States. According to the Journal of American Medicine , about 50-percent of all Americans choose alternative medicine over conventional treatments. But when people turn to supplements, not their doctor, to attempt cures for serious illness, the results are often tragic.