AUTHOR

Mike Hall

19 Articles
Mike Hall is a software engineer and Doctor Who fan, not in that order. He is the producer and host of the long-running podcast Skeptics with a K, part of the organising committee for the award winning skeptical conference QED, and on the board of the Merseyside Skeptics Society.
https://mikehall314.bsky.social/
Health

Supplements and garlic won’t cure the common cold, despite what the BBC say

Mike Hall -
The BBC reported on home remedies to fight the common cold – but what they gave us were weak, biased, and p-hacked studies
History

DNA analysis almost certainly hasn’t just solved the mystery of Jack the Ripper

Mike Hall -
DNA analysis claiming that Jack the Ripper was a Polish barber are based less in science and more in our morbid fascination with serial killers
Placebo Effect

The Beecher story, the origin of the placebo effect myth, likely didn’t happen

Mike Hall -
The most-cited example of the powerful placebo is Henry Beecher using saline instead of morphine... except, it likely never happened
Placebo Effect

An overdose on placebo pills can cause adverse reactions… but not because of the nocebo effect

Mike Hall -
A man who overdosed on experimental pills felt sure he was dying, until he found out he was in the placebo arm... but it was not a nocebo effect.
Placebo Effect

Placebo surgery: why performing fake operations doesn’t actually help anyone

Mike Hall -
Placebo surgeries do not work – if a surgery performs no better than placebo, it means that operation doesn't work, not that placebos are powerful
Placebo Effect

Does pill packet branding change the placebo response, or is this just another placebo myth?

Mike Hall -
How expensive a pill packet looks is said to influence the size of its placebo effect but, once again, the evidence is sorely lacking
Placebo Effect

Pacemakers don’t work when they’re switched off – we should doubt studies that say otherwise

Mike Hall -
Among the many odd claims made about the placebo effect is that pacemakers work even before they're switched on - which obviously isn't true
Placebo Effect

The evidence for pill colour impacting placebo effects gets flimsier the more you examine it

Mike Hall -
The idea that the colour of a pill influences what placebo response you get is based on a succession of badly designed or badly interpreted trials
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