c-reactive protein: a byproduct of inflammation; a globulin that is found in the blood in some cases of acute inflammation
globulin: a family of proteins found in blood and milk and muscle and in plant seed
placebo effect: any effect that seems to be a consequence of administering a placebo; the change is usually beneficial and is assumed result from the person's faith in the treatment or preconceptions about what the experimental drug was supposed to do; pharmacologists were the first to talk about placebo effects but now the idea has been generalized to many situations having nothing to do with drugs