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That the effect of bogus treatments is real has long been known, but the mechanism behind them is still largely a scientific mystery. The standard explanation is that we are just fooling ourselves. In Latin, placebo means "I shall please," which suggests that the placebo effect is just a fleeting mind trick - that the mere suggestion of pharmacologically induced pain relief humors the body into temporary recovery. In trials, every drug response is in fact assumed to be at least partially due to the placebo effect. But the confounding thing about the benefits of the placebo is that the effect...
...drugs sold online have either been falsified or altered in some way. And Internet sales are just the tip of a much bigger problem. Falsified medicines are especially prevalent in developing countries; the WHO estimates that up to 30% of drugs sold in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America are fake, including ones used to fight diseases like malaria and tuberculosis...
Jorge I. Domínguez is the Antonio Madero Professor of Mexican and Latin American Politics and Economics, Vice-Provost for International Affairs, and Special Adviser to the FAS Dean for International Studies...
...stellar science infrastructure more than a decade to develop a nuclear-power industry, let alone a nuclear bomb. (Only Brazil, Argentina and Mexico produce nuclear power in the region.) What's more, Venezuela is a signatory to the 1967 Tlatelolco Treaty, which prohibits the development of nuclear weapons in Latin America. Even so, says Mendelson, "the U.S. is worried that Venezuela has become a platform for the entrance of Iranian mischief in the hemisphere." If Iran is building a bomb, she adds, the U.S. may well assume that Tehran is interested in slipping that technology to Venezuela as well...
...that is speculation at this point, of course, and Venezuela would face isolation not just from the U.S. but from its Latin trade partners - especially Brazil, which is campaigning for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council - if it were to ever toy with nuclear weaponry. As it is, Chávez can look forward to stepped-up global pressure if Iran, like North Korea, is eventually found to be pursuing a nuclear bomb, especially if international economic sanctions are imposed on Tehran. If that happens, Chávez has indicated he'll ignore the measures and keep supplying...