TRIALS continue of that great wonder drug, the placebo. A Duke University study shows that the effectiveness of dummy pills can vary hugely according to how much they cost.

Neither pill was any more than a compound of sugar and hope, but patients still judged a $2.50 placebo better at killing pain than one costing only 10c. Only a small group of subjects took part in the study, and the experiment was simple. Even so, analysing how price affects expectations adds a fascinating dimension to that still rather under-studied thing, the placebo effect. The temptation is to treat placebos as impostors, second-rate versions of the real thing.

Yet as Dan Ariely, the author of the Duke study, says , the placebo is also a demonstration of the body's ability to heal itself: "Sick humans secrete substances you just can't buy over the counter." The placebo effect also raises questions about the sometimes-blind faith put in medicinal treatments which may not be appropriate.

Last month scientists suggested that Prozac may be no better than placebos in treating mild depression. Perhaps exercise or socialising would work better with some sufferers. What the placebo effect really urges us to be is both more sceptical and more open-minded about what we blithely call active ingredients. _ The Guardian

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