Sometimes doctors prescibe medicine which has no relation with illness and harmless. Patients get releif due to placebo effect. How this works on body and one feels that he is cured?
patient believe on doctors. Recent study says that chemical induced pain only 20 % rest of the 80 % quantity of pain related to other factors. Placebo will treat the other factors. Saline water injection itself cures hyperpyrexia. Brain module of biopsychosocial pain which will be responded by placebo effects
I think placebo effect works when people are not informed about what a drug was meant to be used for. so far such medicine/drug is prescribed by doctor of which the name doctor is an influence on its own, then it comes to work psychologically in healing process or reduce the menace of the particular problem.
this could be dangerous at times because if the patient is informed, this could put the doctor into a big problem prescribing fake or medicine/drug contrary to the right one.
Research on the placebo effect has focused on the relationship of mind and body. One of the most common theories is that the placebo effect is due to a person's expectations. If a person expects a pill to do something, then it's possible that the body's own chemistry can cause effects similar to what a medication might have caused.
Many studies, showed that the allegiance (conviction of the method, or the therapist) emphasizes in patients higher values of expectancy, hope, self-efficacy and sense of coherence, etc.. This variables will have a common factor structure and they lead to better outcome values. This effect has been shown for example in the pharmacological treatment of depression.
McKay, K. M., Imel, Z. E., & Wampold, B. E. (2006). Psychiatrist effects in the psychopharmacological treatment of depression. J Affect Disord, 92(2-3), 287-290.
There is further empirical evidence in other fields of medical treatments too.
This is possibly due to the psychological effect as Dr. Adam mentioned. However,such strategy helps only when the diseases are of psychological background.Patients believe in doctors and have faith in the pills he prescribes. Its said doctors smile alone can reduce half of the pain.