The placebo effect is one of the most fascinating things in the whole of medicine. It's not just about taking a pill, and your performance and your pain getting better. It's about our beliefs and expectations. It's about the cultural meaning of a treatment.

The placebo effect is one of the most fascinating things in the whole of medicine. It's not just about taking a pill, and your performance and your pain getting better. It's about our beliefs and expectations. It's about the cultural meaning of a treatment.

Real science is all about critically appraising the evidence for somebody else's position.

I hope that you will be asked to participate in a trial at some stage in your disease

I spend a lot of time talking to people who disagree with me - I would go so far as to say that it's my favourite leisure activity.

Children can be disgusting, and often they can develop extraordinary talents, but I’m yet to meet any child who can stimulate his carotid arteries inside his ribcage.

The plural of anecdotes is not data