Restless Legs and Placebo Effect

Several times I read in results of scientific research that people with RLS are highly sensitive to the so-called placebo effect.

In such a study, the effect of medicines or, for example, a supplement such as iron is tested. Part of the research group gets the real drug. Another part is given a placebo. The participants do not know in advance which of the two they will receive.

After the research, the researchers calculate the scores. The results show positive effects, but also unintended side effects. It is striking when it turns out that a significant part of the people in the placebo group also observe beneficial effects.

What is a placebo

Placebo is Latin and literally means ‘I will please’. It is a drug without a medically active ingredient. Originally, a placebo was used by doctors to deceive a patient with fake medication. The underlying idea was that the doctor was doing the patient a favor with this.

Drug research has shown time and again that groups of patients who take a substance with confidence, in many cases experience beneficial effects. Even if it turns out to be a placebo.

The opposite happens when patients have little or no confidence in a drug. For example, after reading about possible side effects in the package leaflet. They experience less positive effects. This is called the nocebo effect.

Doctors today are less likely to prescribe a placebo without the patient’s knowledge.

Video about placebo effect

A few years ago I saw a popular scientific video in which a group of people tested a certain substance. The participants did not know beforehand that they were receiving a placebo. The reactions about the drug were enthusiastic afterwards.

However, when the participants were told that they had taken a placebo, some were quite upset. Some of them even reacted ashamed and returned to the initial enthusiasm about the operation. Others, however, stuck to the positive they had observed and even wanted to continue using the drug. In any case, it was clear that belief in the remedy was an important factor.

Apparently faith does something to you and has a certain effect in your brain. This also works physically. I recently read that this may have to do with the production of certain pain-relieving neurotransmitters such as endorphins. It may also be related to a favorable interaction between mood and immune system.

Restless legs

With regard to the production of neurotransmitters as an effect of a placebo, I naturally immediately think of dopamine in connection with RLS.

Neurotransmitters are not separate from each other. The creation of one affects the creation of the other. Extra production of endorphins stimulates the production of dopamine. In previous blogs I have written about this.

I have also noticed more often with fellow sufferers that it makes a lot of difference to the effect whether someone believes in a certain remedy or not. I am thinking here, for example, of some home remedies or of alternative medicine such as magnet therapy or hypnotherapy.

If fellow sufferers express themselves negatively about something, a fellow sufferer who reads along will not so easily try something open-minded. This also applies to communication from doctors and foundations. With a more positive, more open attitude in mutual communication, this fellow sufferer may even experience a more favorable effect beforehand. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Personally, I am a big proponent of a positive, open attitude in principle. For myself but certainly also to others. If a certain remedy could help someone, I am in favor of at least neutral reporting about it. Fellow sufferers can then ultimately make their own choices in which they believe or not.