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Nowadays, it's less common to use placebos this way because of ethical concerns.
如今，通過安慰劑的這種方法已經不常見了，因為涉及到道德問題。
If it's possible to compare a new drug against an older version, or another existing drug, that's preferable to simply giving someone no treatment at all, especially if they have a serious ailment.
只要將新藥和以前的藥或者其他存在的藥對比，就比完全不給病人提供治療要好，尤其是病人患有十分嚴重疾病時候。
In these cases, placebos are often used as a control to fine-tune the trial so that the effects of the new versus the old or alternative drug can be precisely compared.
在這些情況下，安慰劑常用于控制變量來微調試驗，這樣新藥的效果能夠與以前的藥或者其他代替藥更準確的比較。
But of course, we know the placebos exert their own influence, too.
當然，我們知道安慰劑也發揮著其自身的作用。
Thanks to the placebo effect, patients have experienced relief from a range of ailments, including heart problems, asthma, and severe pain, even though all they'd received was a fake drug or sham surgery.
多虧了安慰劑效應，很多病的病人病情得到緩解，包括心臟問題、哮喘還有劇痛，即使他們只是服用了假藥或者經歷了假手術。
We're still trying to understand how. Some believe that instead of being real, the placebo effect is merely confused with other factors, like patients trying to please doctors by falsely reporting improvements.
我們仍在嘗試去理解其背后的原因。有些人認為安慰劑的效果都不是真的，僅僅是被其他因素所迷惑了，只是病人為了取悅醫生而錯誤地報告病情。
On the other hand, researchers think that if a person believes a fake treatment is real, their expectations of recovery actually do trigger physiological factors that improve their symptoms.
另一方面，研究人員認為，如果一個人相信假藥的可行性，他們的對康復的期待程度才是觸發心理因素的關鍵，是改善病癥的關鍵。
Placebos seem to be capable of causing measurable change in blood pressure, heart rate, and the release of pain-reducing chemicals, like endorphins.
安慰劑看起來是可以對血壓、心率以及減輕痛覺的化學物質釋放有顯著作用的，就像安多芬。
That explains why subjects in pain studies often say placebos ease their discomfort.
這也解釋了為什么實驗對象在痛覺研究時經常感覺安慰劑緩解了他們的不適。
Placebos may even reduce levels of stress hormones, like adrenaline, which can slow the harmful effects of an ailment.
安慰劑甚至能夠降低應激激素水平，如腎上腺素，它是可以緩解病癥不良反應的。
So shouldn't we celebrate the placebo's bizarre benefits?
所以我們應不應該慶幸安慰劑的神奇功效呢？
Not necessarily.
不一定。
If somebody believes a fake treatment has cured them, they may miss out on drugs or therapies that are proven to work.
如果有的人相信假的治療方法可以治愈他們，他們可能會忽略真正被證明有效的藥物和治療。
Plus, the positive effects may fade over time, and often do.
另外，這些有效的作用可能會隨著時間的流逝而消失，而且普遍都是。
Placebos also cloud clinical results, making scientists even more motivated to discover how they wield such power over us.
安慰劑總是影響診斷結果，使得科學家們更有動力研究安慰劑是如何產生如此巨大影響的。
Despite everything we know about the human body, there are still some strange and enduring mysteries, like the placebo effect.
盡管我們了解人體的各個方面，但仍有很多奇怪的仍然存在的未解之謎，比如安慰劑效應。
So what other undiscovered marvels might we contain?
那么我們還有些什么沒有被發現的奇跡呢？
It's easy to investigate the world around us and forget that one of its most fascinating subjects lies right behind our eyes.
探索這個世界很容易，人們也很容易遺忘這個世界上最迷人的事物就是我們自己。
