A placebo, as used in research, is an inactive substance or procedure used as a control in an experiment. The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health not attributable to an actual treatment.
When a treatment is based on a known inactive substance like a sugar pill, distilled water, or saline solution rather than having real medical value, a patient may still improve merely because their expectation to do so is so strong. To eliminate the effect of positive thinking on clinical trials, researchers often run double-blind, placebo-controlled studies.

A placebo, the giving out of a sham medicine, is used in medical research to test the effectiveness of new treatments. It allows researchers to compare and contrast the actual performance of a new drug or treatment.
However researchers began to find that the fake medicines could actually have an effect.
This is the site of examples of Placebo Effect, and how the scientists are trying to figure out to solve the Placebo Effect.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all