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See my review of Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst, M.D.

The authors discuss how sometimes dangerous alternative treatments thrive because the practitioners know how to make the most of the placebo effect.

To quote the review, which quotes the book:

It may be difficult to persuade a patient whose close personal interactions with alternative practitioners enhance the placebo effect. "The message for mainstream medicine is clear: doctors need to spend more time with their patients in order to develop better doctor-patient relationships."

Fred Bortz
Children's Science Books
and
Science Book Reviews