Why do some people experience a “placebo effect” that makes them feel better when they receive a sham treatment they believe to be real — while other people don’t respond at all to the same thing, or even feel worse"

Researchers have pinpointed a brain region central to the machinery of the placebo effect—the often controversial phenomenon in which a person’s belief in the efficacy of a treatment such as a painkilling drug influences its effect.

Selenium, an antioxidant included in multivitamin tablets thought to have a possible protective effect against the development of type 2 diabetes, may actually increase the risk of developing the disease, an analysis by researchers at the University at Buffalo has shown.

A clinical trial including 50 medical centers and 304 patients has confirmed that polyethylene (PEG) laxative is safe for patients suffering from chronic constipation. The study, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, indicates that even elderly patients can use the drug safely for up to six months.

For depressed people with bipolar disorder who are taking a mood stabilizer, adding an antidepressant medication is no more effective than a placebo (sugar pill), according to results published online on March 28, 2007 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Heart attack patients who received an new intravenous adult stem cell therapy, Provacelâ„¢, experienced a lower number of adverse events, such as cardiac arrhythmias, and had significant improvements in heart, lung and global function compared to those who received a placebo, according to six-month Phase I study data presented at the American College of Cardiology's Innovation in Intervention: i2Summit in New Orleans on March 25.

Patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), such as heart attack and recent-onset chest pain, remain at considerable risk of experiencing further serious cardiovascular problems despite improvements in care. HDL ("good" cholesterol) has properties that may protect these patients from further complications by reducing plaque in their coronary arteries.

Women who take low to moderate doses of aspirin have a reduced risk of death from any cause, and especially heart disease-related deaths, according to a report in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The Parkinson's Institute will participate in a large-scale national clinical trial to learn if the nutritional supplement creatine can slow the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). While creatine is not an approved therapy for PD or any other condition, it is widely thought to improve exercise performance. The potential benefit of creatine for PD was identified by Parkinson's researchers through a new rapid method for screening potential compounds.

A drug used to strengthen bone has been found to help reduce the high incidence of hip fractures among people with Parkinson disease, according to a study published in the March 20, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.