"in America, the placebo effect is more effective than many pharmaceuticals" - There's nothing particularly unique about Americans that would require different treatment than humans in the rest of the world (except for perhaps the incredible obesity problem).
"I'd recommended homeopathy as well, knowing that it can do well and for sure do no harm compared to drugs that just address symptoms" - Actually, there is harm is encouraging people to spend money and time on things that are demonstrably false, because it prevents that time and money from being applied towards worthwhile causes (like finding effective treatments for Alzheimer's).
"being a doctor who's seen a lot of patients, why would I doubt his recommendation?" - An MD degree does not bestow infallibility or scientific inscrutability on the people who have them. MDs disagree with each other pretty routinely, so if you're curious about a doctor's recommendation, 1. find another doctor who disagrees, and try to understand why they disagree, and 2. read some summaries of the actual scientific studies behind whatever the recommended treatment is. If you can't find any scientific studies supporting the treatment, that should be a warning sign.
1. Regarding the placebo/nocebo effect, cultural and other differences matter. I can't find where I read about Americans being generally more affected by it, but I won't be surprised if it's related to powerful marketing of pharmaceuticals on media. Trying to find this, I just read that Americans are the most hypochondriac - maybe it's related.
2. I agree with what you said on second opinions and doing your own due diligence, but my point was different - I'm not a doctor, so, I'd take his advice on PMS with a grain of salt although I personally doubt that the placebo can help with that. Hyman's main theme is reducing sugar intake and I honestly haven't found a doctor so far who argues with that. I've only found people living in denial, because they are so hooked up to that substance.
3. As I said, I personally don't believe that the placebo effect of homeopathy can help with PMS and many other conditions, but maybe it does work better for women who look alternative therapies.
"in America, the placebo effect is more effective than many pharmaceuticals" - There's nothing particularly unique about Americans that would require different treatment than humans in the rest of the world (except for perhaps the incredible obesity problem).
"I'd recommended homeopathy as well, knowing that it can do well and for sure do no harm compared to drugs that just address symptoms" - Actually, there is harm is encouraging people to spend money and time on things that are demonstrably false, because it prevents that time and money from being applied towards worthwhile causes (like finding effective treatments for Alzheimer's).
"being a doctor who's seen a lot of patients, why would I doubt his recommendation?" - An MD degree does not bestow infallibility or scientific inscrutability on the people who have them. MDs disagree with each other pretty routinely, so if you're curious about a doctor's recommendation, 1. find another doctor who disagrees, and try to understand why they disagree, and 2. read some summaries of the actual scientific studies behind whatever the recommended treatment is. If you can't find any scientific studies supporting the treatment, that should be a warning sign.
"Maybe it really works for some, how can I know?" - http://lmgtfy.com/?q=can+placebo+help+pms turns up http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678774 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8533564. Both of those have really small sample sizes (85 people for the first, 35 for the second), but in both studies, placebo was less effective than the actual therapy being tested.