Unravelling the power of nocebo in symptom response to food challenge in irritable bowel syndrome
Expectancy effects, encompassing both placebo and nocebo phenomena, are gaining increasing recognition across medical disciplines, including gastroenterology.1 Understanding psychological influences on symptom perception and patient-reported outcomes is crucial, especially in disorders of gut–brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Caroline Seiler and colleagues’ study2 greatly extends existing expectancy research beyond its traditional focus on pain and nausea to explore dietary behaviour and food-induced symptoms in IBS.
