The hallucinogen behind the effects of magic mushrooms may help people with alcohol use disorder cut down on or stop drinking when they take the drug.
The results of a recent clinical trial were published in the journalJAMA Psychiatry, which showed that people with alcohol dependence received two doses of either psilocybin or a placebo.
Alcohol dependence is now classified as an alcohol use disorder, a condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.
During the trial, all participants were offered four sessions of therapy prior to their first dose, four between the first and second dose, and four after treatment.
The treatment groups reduced their drinking during the trial, but the group that received the drug improved more dramatically.
Compared with the placebo group, the rate of heavy drinking dropped by more than half.
After eight months, 48 percent of the group had stopped drinking, compared to 24 percent of the placebo group.
The first time I drank I stopped. Jon Kostas said at the news conference that it worked for him quickly. All my temptations were eliminated by this.
A small study found that the magic mushroom compound works just as well as antidepressants.
It's "remarkable" that the effects of therapy persisted for months after treatment, according to the lead study author.
He said that if the effects hold up in the future, it could be a breakthrough in the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists began testing lysergic acid diethylamide for the purpose of treating alcohol use disorder.
The early trials suggest that the trip-inducing drug could help patients reduce their alcohol use and avoid the negative consequences of alcohol use more effectively than placebo pills or amphetamines could. Political pressures brought about a halt to such research.
Despite its early promise, the use of hallucinogens to treat AUD has been quiescent for 50 years.
The new trial included 93 people who had been diagnosed with alcohol dependence based on criteria in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
The participants drank alcohol on three-quarters of the days included in the time frame, and they drank heavily on more than half of the days. It's defined as five or more drinks in a day for men and four or more drinks in a day for women.
Both the participants and the trial organizers were unaware that they were assigned to one of the two treatment groups.
More than 90 percent of the participants and supervising therapists guessed the correct medication had been administered. The trial was not double-blind, which limits the results.
Bogenschutz said that the placebo didn't come close to mimicking the mind-changing effects of the drug. He said that the lack of appropriate placebos was an inherent challenge of the research.
Scientists show how the mind works.
The treatments were supervised by a team of therapists and medical staff. The participants were given a slightly higher drug dose if they agreed to it.
At the first session, people in the group received 25 milligrams per 154 pounds (70 kilograms) of body weight, and at the second session, they received either 30 or 40 milligrams for the same amount of weight.
Mild, short-lived side effects like headaches, nausea, and anxiousness were more common in the placebo group.
Several serious adverse events took place outside the clinic during the trial and all of them happened in the placebo group. There were admissions due to suicidal thoughts that occurred during binge drinking episodes.
There weren't any significant safety issues with the drug. Because the drug raises blood pressure and heart rate, it's important that patients take it under careful supervision.
The trial participants experienced a range of feelings while on the drug.
Many patients in the placebo group received significant benefits from taking the drug in combination with undergoing therapy after the acute experience of their trip.
It saved my life and definitely impacted my life.
How do the treatment works? Researchers have proposed some possible explanations for the truth.
According to Live Science, the brain's wrinkled cerebral cortex is involved in high-level cognitive functions, such as introspection and executive function, and can be plugged into with the help of the drug psilocybin.
It's thought that by stimulating the brain networks that are activated by these receptors, signals can be sent between different parts of the brain.
It is thought that this mechanism may help people break out of negative patterns of thinking.
According to Dr. Charles Marmar, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health, "new learning is possible in a way it wasn't before."
The learning process may be accelerated by this.
The ability of people to make changes may be improved by the use of the psilocybin.
More research is needed to understand how the drug works.
The trial will take two to three years to complete and will be launched next year by Bogenschutz and his colleagues.
The FDA will decide when the treatment can be approved for widespread use.
Marmar said the NYU team believes the approval will come eventually.
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The original article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.
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