Placebos Vs Parkinson's: The Power Of Joy

Short Wave

NPR

Science, Life Sciences, News, Nature, Daily News, Astronomy

4.7 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that leads to difficulty with walking, balance and coordination. There is currently no cure, but scientists in Pittsburgh, PA have an ambitious plan to develop a treatment based on the placebo effect. NPR science correspondent, Jon Hamilton, tells the story of how this plan came to be. It involves a batch of illegal drugs, the rabies virus, and figuring out what makes a monkey really happy.

Watch the video of the cyclist with Parkinson's diseasehere: https://bit.ly/3GPZ6PK

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to shortwave from NPR.
0:04.7	Hello, short waivers, Dan Charles here.
0:07.3	You've heard of placebo, right?
0:09.7	Little sugar pills?
0:11.3	Well, apparently they can have profound effects.
0:14.3	Sometimes even get our brains working differently
0:16.8	and help treat a disease or disorder.
0:19.1	This is what I've been hearing from NPR's resident
0:21.6	Brain of File.
0:22.7	John Hamilton.
0:23.6	Hi, John.
0:24.4	Hey, Dan.
0:25.6	You know, I have been pasturing you about this
0:28.0	because it's true.
0:29.3	In some cases, these fake drugs can cause real changes
0:32.5	in the brain.
0:33.5	And I've been talking to these scientists in Pittsburgh
0:35.7	who think they might be able to use this placebo effect
0:38.7	to come up with better treatments for Parkinson's disease.
0:41.5	Really?
0:42.5	So how does a placebo actually help somebody with Parkinson's?
0:46.2	To answer that, let me tell you about this couple I met
	...

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