Comparison of Blood Pressure Response to Veriloid and to the Doctor

Abstract

In studying the long term effects of a hypotensive drug in patients with essential hypertension, data was obtained to demonstrate that the drug had a slight but significant depressor effect in certain patients and that striking and highly significant effects (both pressor and depressor) on the blood pressure occurred in all patients in time relation to changes in the attitude of the investigator toward the experiment. Significance of this latter finding in the problem of evaluating symptomatic and physiological responses to specific agents is obvious. The double-blind method of drug testing, when properly applied, helps to isolate the various factors involved in such responses.