TED演讲:安慰剂效应的力量(2)

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　　If it's possible to compare a new drug against an older version,  只要将新药和以前的药或者其他存在的药对比，

　　or another existing drug, that's preferable to simply giving someone no treatment at all, especially if they have a serious ailment⁴. 就比完全不给病人提供治疗要好，尤其是病人患有十分严重疾病时候。

　　In these cases, placebos are often used as a control to fine-tune the trial 在这些情况下，安慰剂常用于控制变量来微调试验，

　　so that the effects of the new versus⁵ the old or alternative drug can be precisely⁶ compared. 这样新药的效果能够与以前的药或者其他代替药更准确的比较。

　　But of course, we know the placebos exert their own influence, too. 当然，我们知道安慰剂也发挥着其自身的作用。

　　Thanks to the placebo¹ effect, patients have experienced relief from a range of ailments⁷, 多亏了安慰剂效应，很多病的病人病情得到缓解，

　　including heart problems, asthma⁸, and severe pain, even though all they'd received was a fake drug or sham⁹ surgery. 包括心脏问题、哮喘还有剧痛，即使他们只是服用了假药或者经历了假手术。

　　We're still trying to understand how. 我们仍在尝试去理解其背后的原因。

　　Some believe that instead of being real, the placebo effect is merely confused with other factors, 有些人认为安慰剂的效果都不是真的，仅仅是被其他因素所迷惑了，

　　like patients trying to please doctors by falsely reporting improvements. 只是病人为了取悦医生而错误地报告病情。

　　On the other hand, researchers think that if a person believes a fake treatment is real, 另一方面，研究人员认为，如果一个人相信假药的可行性，

　　their expectations of recovery actually do trigger physiological¹⁰ factors that improve their symptoms. 他们的对康复的期待程度才是触发心理因素的关键，是改善病症的关键。

　　Placebos seem to be capable of causing measurable change in blood pressure, heart rate, and the release of pain-reducing chemicals, like endorphins. 安慰剂看起来是可以对血压、心率以及减轻痛觉的化学物质释放有显著作用的，就像安多芬。

　　That explains why subjects in pain studies often say placebos ease their discomfort¹¹. 这也解释了为什么实验对象在痛觉研究时经常感觉安慰剂缓解了他们的不适。

　　Placebos may even reduce levels of stress hormones¹², like adrenaline, which can slow the harmful effects of an ailment. 安慰剂甚至能够降低应激激素水平，如肾上腺素，它是可以缓解病症不良反应的。

　　So shouldn't we celebrate the placebo's bizarre benefits? 所以我们应不应该庆幸安慰剂的神奇功效呢？

　　Not necessarily. If somebody believes a fake treatment has cured them, they may miss out on drugs or therapies that are proven to work. 不一定。如果有的人相信假的治疗方法可以治愈他们，他们可能会忽略真正被证明有效的药物和治疗。

　　Plus, the positive effects may fade over time, and often do. 另外，这些有效的作用可能会随着时间的流逝而消失，而且普遍都是。

　　Placebos also cloud clinical results, making scientists even more motivated to discover how they wield¹³ such power over us. 安慰剂总是影响诊断结果，使得科学家们更有动力研究安慰剂是如何产生如此巨大影响的。

　　Despite everything we know about the human body, there are still some strange and enduring mysteries, like the placebo effect. 尽管我们了解人体的各个方面，但仍有很多奇怪的仍然存在的未解之谜，比如安慰剂效应。

　　So what other undiscovered marvels¹⁴ might we contain? 那么我们还有些什么没有被发现的奇迹呢？

　　It's easy to investigate the world around us and forget that one of its most fascinating subjects lies right behind our eyes. 探索这个世界很容易，人们也很容易遗忘这个世界上最迷人的事物就是我们自己。

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