{"id":2119,"date":"2022-08-29T15:42:28","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/?p=2119"},"modified":"2024-08-04T21:11:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T21:11:52","slug":"magic-mushrooms-set-to-become-uks-ultimate-weapon-against-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/2022\/08\/29\/magic-mushrooms-set-to-become-uks-ultimate-weapon-against-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic mushrooms set to become UK\u2019s ultimate weapon against depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A wave of companies have been approved to test the radical approach under new rules drawn up following Britain\u2019s departure from the European Union.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists said the use of psychedelic drugs to treat conditions such as depression could become a standard treatment within five years, with hopes that major strides can be made from just one session of \u201cpsychedelic-assisted therapy<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials are underway using \u201cshort-acting\u201d drugs that give patients a 20-minute psychedelic experience \u2013 which can include hallucinations \u2013 followed by a two-hour therapy session.Resetting brain networks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts said the approach appears to<\/a> \u201creset the networks in the brain\u201d, helping to end ingrained negative patterns of thought, and making patients far more receptive to therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British company Small Pharma is leading the world\u2019s first regulated clinical trial, which combines the hallucinogenic drug DMT (dimethyltryptamine) with psychotherapy in patients with major depressive disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trials, which are due to report their findings within months, involve 42 patients with the condition, and follow a phase-one trial in healthy volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Carol Routledge, chief medical and scientific officer at Small Pharma, said she was hopeful that such therapies could soon become a standard way to treat depression, in a way that \u201cgot to the root cause\u201d of the problem, rather than simply masking symptoms.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said changes in medical regulation in response to Brexit meant it was possible to accelerate the trial process, and ensure that drugs that showed promise were made available more quickly.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Britain\u2019s exit from the European Union, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) created an \u201cInnovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP)\u201d that aims to speed up the time it takes to get new medicines to patients.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small Pharma\u2019s trial has been granted an ILAP along with other companies testing MDMA<\/a> combined with therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the use of compounds found in \u201cmagic mushrooms\u201d for treatment-resistant depression.Exploring the use of psychedelics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, British start-up Clerkenwell Health is about to begin trials in the use of the same compound \u2013 psilocybin \u2013 to help people cope with a terminal diagnosis, and is exploring the use of psychedelics for depression and quitting smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Routledge said psychedelic drugs offered great promise in the treatment of mental health problems, saying they could offer almost immediate benefits, compared with antidepressants, which often take up to three months to take full effect.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on initial data that we already have, and other companies have, there\u2019s going to be a fairly immediate impact,\u201d she said, with results born of just one session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn terms of the psychedelic experience, we\u2019re talking about 20 minutes, and then the integration therapy afterwards, in a total two-and-a-half-hour session \u2026 we expect the antidepressant activity to be extremely durable \u2026 to last maybe three, four or five months,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drug-development expert said findings from current clinical trials were needed to demonstrate its efficacy, but said existing data showed promising results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scientist said the treatment pathway works entirely differently to that of antidepressants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe think that this treatment will really get to the root cause, rather than just dampening symptoms, you really will get to the root cause. That, potentially, is the reason why these molecules will be so efficacious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imaging data suggests that psychedelics work on the brain networks, in particular on the default mode network, which is thought to be particularly active in depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis links to the ruminative negative cycling thought processes that lots of these internalising conditions have \u2026 these ingrained patterns of thoughts in their neural connections\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the main class of antidepressants \u2013 SSRIs \u2013 \u201cdon\u2019t really touch\u201d such networks, psychedelics are thought to suppress such activity, making neural connections more flexible and increasing brain plasticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can reset those networks in the brain, and then that leaves the brain much more receptive to therapy, which is why we bring it in straight afterwards,\u201d she said.Out-of-body sensations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the trial, participants can expect to go through a psychedelic experience, which could include visual or aural hallucinations, and out-of-body sensations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Routledge said it was \u201cabsolutely feasible\u201d that such therapy could become a first-line treatment for major depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will take a lot of educating and informing \u2026 there\u2019s a lot of misconceptions about psychedelics, but they are like any medicine, as long as it\u2019s the right dose, and the safety is controlled, with a therapist sitting next to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the new access pathways set up by the MHRA in the wake of Brexit could speed up the journey, ensuring that promising innovative treatments reached patients faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cILAP brings a lot of different organisations together, so you can have a real discussion about how you take your molecule forward. It\u2019s really all about expediting the treatment to the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A wave of companies have been approved to test the radical approach under new rules drawn up following Britain\u2019s departure from the European Union. Scientists said the use of psychedelic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2119"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2565,"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119\/revisions\/2565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ordermagicmushrooms.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}