As Parkinson’s case The rise continues, and race continues for treatments that combat the effects of the disease. And researchers have identified unlikely sources of relief.
A new study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) found that psychedelic compounds found in several mushrooms improve mood, cognitive and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients.
A substance often referred to as “magic mushrooms” has been previously shown Relieves depression And anxiety prompted researchers to explore the potential of Parkinson’s disease.
According to a UCSF press release, people with neuromotor disorders often suffer from “mood dysfunction” and do not tend to respond well to traditional antidepressants.
Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in some mushrooms, has been found to improve mood, cognitive and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients. (istock)
“Many people don’t realize this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s disease are associated with faster physical decline,” says Ellen Bradley (Maryland), assistant professor and associate director of the UCSF’s Translational Psychedelic Research Program.
“And they are actually stronger predictors of patients. Quality of life Parkinson’s disease more than their motor symptoms. ”
The small study included 12 people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease. They ranged from 40 to 75 years old. Everything was full of depression and anxiety.
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They all received a 10 mg dose of psilocybin and two weeks later they received a 25 mg dose. To measure the effect, participants met a License therapist Before and after medication.
At 1 week and 1 month follow-up, patients reported “clinically significant improvements” in motor function as well as mood and cognitive function.
“Many people don’t realize this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s disease are associated with faster physical decline.”
“These results are really encouraging,” Bradley told Fox News Digital. “The depression and anxiety that debilitates so many people with Parkinson’s disease has greatly improved, and those improvements have continued for at least three months after the patient took the medication.”
Amir Inamdar, a British pharmaceutical physician and chief medical officer at Cybin, noted that the improvement in motor symptoms is somewhat surprising.
“As the authors point out, this may be due to regulation of dopamine via the effects of psilocybin on some serotonin receptor types.” (Inamdar was not involved in the study.)
The most common side effects of psilocybin include anxiety, nausea, headaches, and Increased blood pressureHowever, researchers say none were so serious that it required medical care.
People with neuromotor disorders often suffer from “debilitating mood dysfunction” and do not tend to respond well to traditional antidepressants. (istock)
“Despite reporting of challenging experiences by several participants, psilocybin appeared well tolerated,” Inamdar noted. “Side effects are consistent with those seen in other studies, with no precipitation/advanced precipitation. Psychotic symptoms. ”
The study was published in the natural publication Neuropsychopharmacology and was funded by an anonymous donor.
Limitations and further research
This was the first study to measure the effects of psychedelic substances on patients with neurodegenerative diseases, according to the USCF.
The study was a “critical first step,” but Bradley said that researchers were small pilots without a control group, so researchers were unable to draw conclusions from it.
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“We’ve now started a much larger trial designed to rigorously test whether Psilocybin is effective with Parkison’s,” she told Fox News Digital.
“We are also collecting multimodal biological data to understand how psilocybin works. This is important not only to optimize psilocybin therapy, but also to guide the development of next-generation psychedelics that are currently in the pipeline and are promising for the Parkinsons people.”
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Bradley still recommends that Parkinson’s patients get closer to psilocybin Other psychedelics With “many attention.”
“We do not recommend starting psilocybin use in Parkinson patients,” she revealed. “We don’t think that these drugs are safe for everyone who is sick, very early in this study.”
This was the first study to measure the effects of psychedelic substances on patients with neurodegenerative diseases, according to the USCF. (istock)
“I hope people continue to do it Research Advocates This allows us to speed up this process of identifying the right psychedelic treatment for the right patients at the right time. ”
Inamadar agreed that although the results are encouraging, the study is based on a small, limited sample.
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“The study is also open-labeled and has improved mood and mood, but it helps to increase the expected effectiveness. Anxiety symptoms It was only three months old and I could see it,” he added.
“whole, [the] The highly encouraged results require further investigation in attempting to understand the mechanisms behind improvement in motor symptoms. ”
