Advisory Council to Discuss Placebo Effect

The placebo effect will be the primary focus of an upcoming meeting of The National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NACCAM).

Placebos are generally administered in the form of "dummy" pharmaceuticals, as a measure of gauging a real drug's effect during clinical trials; however, placebo massage—touch that mimics massage therapy but that is intended to serve as a placebo—is used in some research studies meant to measure the effects of real massage.

The council will meet on June 1 in Bethesda, Maryland, and the public is welcome to attend the open session.

NACCAM advises, consults and makes recommendations to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine's (NCCAM) director "on matters relating to the research activities and functions of the Center," according to NCCAM's Web site (http://nccam.nih.gov). Of the council's 18 voting members, nine are licensed in complementary or alternative medicine, six are mainstream medical professionals, and three are from the general public, the Web site states.

Among the topics to be discussed at the meeting are "NCCAM's Investment in Placebo Research," "Signal or Noise? Researching Placebo," and "Neurochemistry of Placebo and Nocebo Responses in Humans."

Meeting location: NIH Main Campus, William H. Natcher Building, Conference Room E1 and E2, Bethesda, Maryland.

Meeting time: 1:30 p.m.

For more information: http://nccam.nih.gov/about/advisory/naccam/agenda/2007june.htm or info@nccam.nih.gov.