\nCould Ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms one day be legitimate prescription
\nmedicines? It sounds unlikely, but doctors and researchers in the US and
\nacross Europe believe it is possible and that new science will prove the
\ncase.\n<\/p>\n
\nSecond chances are rare in science. In the Fifties and Sixties, hallucinogenic
\ndrugs, such as LSD, were hailed as the magic bullet to everything from
\nalcoholism to migraine. But they became caught in the crossfire of the
\ncultural wars of the times. Western politicians banned the use of
\npsychedelics in research once they started to be used recreationally, and
\nbecame associated with flower-power and the counter culture. The drugs were
\ndangerous; the science was flawed; the researchers biased.\n<\/p>\n
\nBut a comeback has been under way for more than a decade. A new generation of
\nresearchers say that psychedelic drugs can treat conditions such as
\naddiction, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and a type of headache
\ncalled cluster headache.<\/p>\n
Studies with Ecstasy and LSD are planned or are under way in the UK,
\nSwitzerland, Germany, Spain and Israel. And so big is this scientific
\nmovement that researchers and speakers are gathered this weekend in Basel,
\nSwitzerland, for the inaugural World Psychedelic Forum. Here are some of the
\ndrugs they may be discussing. ECSTASY In the mid to late-Eighties, Ecstasy,
\nor its chemical name MDMA, was used therapeutically by psychotherapists on
\nthe West Coast of the US. They were wowed by its ability to break down
\npsychological barriers between patient and practitioner, and instil feelings
\nof empathy and calm. It was found to be particularly useful in marriage
\ncounselling.
\n<\/p>\n
\nHow it achieves its effect is not clear, but it is thought to affect the
\naction of two moodenhancing brain chemicals, serotonin and dopamine.
\nProponents say that the drug allows people to open up and express themselves
\nin ways that they otherwise might not be able to. They are also more relaxed
\nand calm, which helps to stop them becoming traumatised again when they
\nrevisit painful memories. The drug is neurotoxic at high doses, but the
\ndebate continues as to whether a few low to medium doses causes permanent
\ndamage.\n<\/p>\n
\nSupporters argue that any risk is outweighed by the possible benefits for
\npeople who have not responded to conventional treatments, and that limited
\nexposure to the drug in moderate doses will not result in addiction or
\nlong-term memory problems. Michael Mithoefer, a clinical assistant professor
\nof psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, is finishing a
\nstudy into MDMA’s effect on patients with treatment-resistant post-traumatic
\nstress disorder. He says the preliminary results are promising and that the
\ntherapeutic response “warrants our going on to larger studies”.\n<\/p>\n
LSD<\/strong><\/p>\n \nThe “classic” hallucinogens, such as LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient \nHow can a hallucinogen prevent a type of headache? They have a similar \nAndrew Sewell and John Halpern, of McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, KETAMINE<\/strong><\/p>\n \nKetamine is an anaesthetic developed in 1962 for human and veterinary \nIn 2006, scientists from the US National Institute of Mental Health injected CANNABIS \nUsers say that cannabis makes them feel relaxed and congenial. It is also \nThe cannabis-based medicine Sativex uses fewer psychoactive cannabinoids and THE FUTURE?<\/strong><\/p>\n \nNot everyone believes that using hallucinogenic drugs for medical purposes \nHe says that the risk to the individual of experiencing drug-induced negative \nWhile scientists and medics do not dispute the catastrophic effects that these Source: http:\/\/www.timesonline.co.uk\/tol\/life_and_style\/health\/article3593278.ece<\/p>\n Posted by: skip<\/p>\n Notes: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Could Ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms one day be legitimate prescription medicines? It sounds unlikely, but doctors and researchers in the US and across Europe believe it is possible and that new science will prove the case. Second chances are rare in science. In the Fifties and Sixties, hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD, were hailed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nin “magic” mushrooms), also affect the serotonin and dopamine systems in the
\nbrain. LSD causes hallucinations, commonly known as a “trip”. Researchers
\nbelieve that it may be useful in treating severe headaches known as cluster
\nheadaches. These usually centre around one side of the head, and can occur
\nseveral times a day for weeks, before stopping for long stretches of up to
\nseveral months. Scientists believe that these can be treated with a
\nsub-hallucinogenic dose of LSD, which does not cause the wild visual
\ndistortions associated with larger doses.\n<\/p>\n
\nchemical structure to serotonin and exert their effects by binding to some
\nof the same receptors as serotonin, a property that is exploited by some
\nmainstream migraine drugs, such as sumatriptan (Imigran) and methysergide.\n<\/p>\n
\nconducted interviews confirming that LSD and psilocybin were both more
\neffective than conventional drugs at stopping a new cycle of headaches, and
\nthat psilocybin was the best drug of all to abort an attack. Halpern is
\ndeveloping full clinical trials. Studies are also under way in Switzerland
\nand the US using LSD or psilocybin as a palliative care agent for patients
\nwith anxieties associated with terminal cancer.\n<\/p>\n
\nmedicine. It works on a wide range of receptors and sites within the brain,
\nwith recreational users reporting feelings of euphoria and out-of-body
\nexperiences. It is neurotoxic at high doses (at least in rats), but smaller
\ndoses could have safer medical benefits, and act as an antidepressant.\n<\/p>\n
\n17 patients suffering from depression – and who had failed at least six
\nprevious drug treatments – with either a low dose of ketamine or a placebo.
\nMore than two thirds responded favourably to the drug within a day. However,
\nits psychedelic effects may have to be smoothed out before it can be used
\ntherapeutically.\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nknown to increase appetite. The drug, or its chemical derivatives
\n(cannabinoids), is used in the US as an appetite stimulant for Aids
\nsufferers and chemotherapy patients.\n<\/p>\n
\nis licensed in Canada as an under-the-tongue analgesic spray for patients
\nsuffering from multiple sclerosis and advanced cancer. It is also available
\nin Spain and the UK on a case-by-case basis. Researchers are investigating
\nthe drug as a potential treatment for conditions such as glaucoma, obesity
\nand diabetes, and as an agent against addiction and hypertension, as
\nrevealed recently by scientists at the University of Nottingham.\n<\/p>\n
\nwill be fruitful, or that it is warranted. “You have to look at research
\npolicy within the usual rules without giving way to passion or modern
\nfashions,” says Griffith Edwards, the co-founder of the National Addiction
\nCentre.\n<\/p>\n
\neffects must be considered. It may be that a new generation of
\npsychotherapists are viewing the past with kaleidoscope eyes, and that the
\nmedical benefits may be a mirage based on bad science in the past when risks
\nwere under-reported and follow-ups inadequate.\n<\/p>\n
\ndrugs can have on physical and mental health when taken recreationally, the
\npace of research into the medical benefits of such substances, when taken in
\na controlled setting, shows no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n