Can magic fungi be secret to help patients with Parkinson’s disease?
Researchers at the University of California in San Francisco say the use of psilocybin hallucino – found in magical fungi – can help improve mood, cognition and motor symptoms for people with degenerative motor disorder.
This can be good news for more than a million Americans living with Parkinson. It is the second most common neurological disease after Alzheimer’s disease and is expected to double the number of people diagnosed in the United States by 2040.
“We are still in very early stages, but this study was done beyond what we expected,” said Dr. Ellen Bradley, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of the UCSF Psychiatric Research Program.
Bradley was the first writer of an article published earlier this month Essence Magazine PsychologyHuman
Psilocybin works by entering the brain using the same serotonin receptors, which is important for adjusting mood and other brain functions. Researchers say the drug also leads to other changes in the brain, though they still do not fully understand how these effects may lead to improvement. Numerous studies have shown that people with Parkinson’s disease have serotonin dysfunction.
For the first time, a psychiatrist has been tested on patients with any neurological disease, and participants in their studies tolerate magic fungi without serious side effects or worsening symptoms.
Psilocybin works by entering the brain using the same receptors – which facilitates the transfer of chemical signals from the outside – as serotonin, a hormone that is important for regulating mood and other brain functions. Researchers say the drug also leads to other changes in the brain, though they still do not fully understand how these effects may lead to improvement. Numerous studies have shown that people with Parkinson’s disease have serotonin dysfunction.
It was a small trial, including only seven men and five women with a 10 mg dose of a dose of 25 mg two weeks later. Patients performed eight sessions of psychotherapy before and after medication and were evaluated for any changes.
Some people experienced anxiety, nausea and high pressure. However, these symptoms were not serious enough to need medical intervention.
In general, there have been some progress in the follow -ups after one week and a month.
“Physically, I feel better than 2-3 years ago,” said Jeff Deming, a participant in the study.
“Many people do not understand this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s are associated with rapid physical decline,” Bradley said. “And they are actually a stronger predictor of the quality of life with Parkinson’s than their motor symptoms.”
The researchers have stated that psilocybin can get rid of the symptoms of the disease, or this feeling can help them socialize and become more active.
Now, they are doing a larger trial and a more diverse group of patients. They also include the use of nerve imaging tools and non -invasive brain stimulation. They work on a second site at Yale University with the aim of registering 100 participants. The budget of this study is supported by an anonymous donor and Michael Jay Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research.
“The vast majority of brain diseases still lack interventions that change the disease process,” said Dr. Joshva Wolley, senior authors of this study. “We can often cure symptoms, but we do not change the path or prevent the reduction. Now, this starts to change. These results will cause exciting possibility that Psilocybin may help repair brain.”
