Magic mushrooms can help Parkinson’s people, and now plan to conduct large-scale clinical trials
The first clinical trial explores whether drugs found in magic mushrooms can help treat Parkinson’s disease.
It marks the first time that individuals with neurodegenerative diseases have been tested for psychedelic tests.
Parkinson’s disease is an incurable progressive brain disease caused by the death of dopamine-producing nerve cells, causing exercise and speech problems to worsen over time.
Now, in a new landmark study, all 12 patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease and an average age of 63 years have reported improvements in emotional, cognitive and motor function, a benefit that lasted for months.
In addition to psychotherapy, participants were given a 10 mg dose of psilocybin, followed by 25 mg after two weeks.
During follow-up appointments after dosing, although the side effects of nausea, anxiety and elevated blood pressure are not required for medical care.
Given that there were no obvious signs of injury, a larger trial involving up to 100 patients was also approved, the study’s lead author, Dr. Ellen Bradley, lead author of the University of California, San Francisco, told era The result is “far beyond our expectations”.
The first clinical trial explores whether drugs found in magic mushrooms can help treat Parkinson’s disease. It marks the first time that individuals with neurodegenerative diseases have been tested
Parkinson’s disease affects star Michael J Fox, 63, who announced last week that he will rise across the United States in nearly three decades with Parkinson’s disease, and he will receive an extraordinary return.
Dr. Bradley added that while the observation of improvements in motor function and cognitive performance was “unexpected”, these were still “preliminary findings” and stressed that it was too early to draw conclusions.
Possible causes of the benefits of magic mushrooms include their ability to affect brain inflammation and stimulate neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to reorganize and establish new neural connections).
Dr. Bradley said that despite the high dose of psilocybin at “incredibly encouraging”, the results did not show “severe side effects.”
The researchers also hope it will help ongoing efforts to provide further treatment for Parkinson’s disease, which currently affects up to 153,000 people in the UK.
This number is expected to rise to around 172,000 by 2030 due to population growth and aging, with Parkinson’s disease being the fastest growing neurological condition in the world.
Dr. Bradley said that despite the high dose of psilocybin, it showed no results with “severe side effects”.
It has affected the likes of 63-year-old “Back to the Future” star Michael J Fox, who announced last week that he will receive an extraordinary return in nearly three decades of Parkinson’s Disseation, a performance that is booming across the United States.
Mr. Fox was diagnosed at the age of 29 and managed to cover his illness out of the public for seven years before he began to appear less frequently on the screen as he had more trouble walking, talking and controlling tremors.
Speaking about the “really exciting next step” of the large trial, Dr. Bradley added: “We will be able to test the effectiveness of psilocybin therapy in Parkinson’s patients and collect multimodal biological data – from brain stimulation, imagination, blood tests, which will help us understand exactly how psilocybin affects different aspects of parkinson.”
The next trial will be funded by anonymous donors and the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Research Foundation.
