Journal of psychosomatic research
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effectiveness of a placebo intervention on visually induced nausea in women - A randomized controlled pilot study.
Improvement of nausea by placebo interventions has recently been demonstrated in clinical trials and experimental settings. However, many questions regarding placebo effects on nausea remain unanswered. For example, nausea reduction in women could only be achieved when the placebo intervention was "enhanced" by conditioning, while men responded primarily to verbally suggested improvement. It is unclear whether these findings are generalizable or were due to situational variables. In this pilot study, we investigated the effects of sham acupuncture point stimulation and verbal suggestions on visually-induced nausea in a female population. ⋯ Sham acupuncture point stimulation combined with verbal suggestions induced a significant placebo effect on visually-induced nausea in women.