placebo effects and opioids

[Jason Kennerly]

silmorat at usp.br writes:
> A couple of years ago someone told me pacebo effects could be blocked by 
> naloxone (or was it naltrexone?). I got back to the topic and now I need a 
> reference. Can anyone help me? Thanks in advance.

Its not blocking _placebo_ folks... its blocking _endorphins_. Endorphins 
may be made by a placebo effect (a psychological condition) but 
describing a chemical as blocking a placebo effect is, well, a strange 
way of putting anything.

If there is an apparently active chemical in use, distinguishable from an 
ACTUAL placebo, then the chemical is not a placebo. Just because it might 
have an opposite effect to another drug doesnt mean its blocking a 
placebo effect that emulates that other drug - it may very well do 
something quite the opposite!

I read a study that suggested that said that naloxone was extremely 
effective vs. placebo in blocking the experience of religious euphoria in 
churchgoers... which I thought was quite funny in light of the Marxist 
position on religion (opiate of the masses)... anyways, no one else 
laughed, so....



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