health π©Ί Are surgeries often just a placebo?
Over 300 million operations happen globally each year, with about 60% of people in England expecting surgery. New surgical RCTs are showing some procedures are no better than antibiotics or placebos. For example, certain spinal fusions show effects similar to non-surgical care, and some surgeries can cause more harm than good. Researchers suggest two-thirds of perceived post-op improvement is due to natural healing or placebo effects. π©Ί