Nature | News
Ayahuasca psychedelic tested for depression
Pilot study with shamanic brew hints at therapeutic potential.
Arran Frood
06 April 2015
Lunae Parracho/Reuters/Corbis
Ayahuasca being prepared for a healing ritual in the Brazilian village of Novo Segredo.
A psychedelic drink used for centuries in healing ceremonies is now attracting the attention of biomedical scientists as a possible treatment for depression.
Researchers from Brazil last month published results from the first clinical test of a potential therapeutic benefit for ayahuasca, a South American plant-based brew1.
The work forms part of a renaissance in studying the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic or recreational drugs :
Ketamine, which is used medically as an anaesthetic, has shown promise as a fast-acting antidepressant;
psilocybin, a hallucinogen found in ‘magic mushrooms’, can help to alleviate anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer2;
patients who experience debilitating cluster headaches have reported that LSD eases their symptoms.
Ayahuasca, a sacramental drink traditionally brewed from the bark of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of a shrub (Psychotria viridis), contains ingredients that are illegal in most countries.
Ayahuasca, a sacramental drink traditionally brewed from the bark of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of a shrub (Psychotria viridis), contains ingredients that are illegal in most countries.
But a booming ayahuasca industry has developed in South America, where its religious use is allowed, and where thousands of people each year head to rainforest retreats to sample its intense psychedelic insights.
Depression drink:
The brew has been studied by anthropologists, social scientists and theologians, but clinical research on ayahuasca has been limited ........
Depression drink:
The brew has been studied by anthropologists, social scientists and theologians, but clinical research on ayahuasca has been limited ........
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Improvements were seen in two or three hours, a rapid effect, as conventional antidepressants can take weeks to work.
Jairo Galvis Henao/Creative Commons
Ayahuasca is a 'tea' made from Amazonian plants.
Improvements were seen in two or three hours, a rapid effect, as conventional antidepressants can take weeks to work.
The benefits, which were statistically significant, continued to hold up in assessments over he next three weeks.
“It is a proof of concept of what so many ritual ayahuasca users already know: ayahuasca can help one feel extra well, not just during the experience, but for up to days or weeks after,” says Brian Anderson, a psychiatrist at the UC, San Francisco.
“It is a proof of concept of what so many ritual ayahuasca users already know: ayahuasca can help one feel extra well, not just during the experience, but for up to days or weeks after,” says Brian Anderson, a psychiatrist at the UC, San Francisco.
It is biochemically plausible that ayahuasca could treat depression — its plants contain compounds that alter the concentrations of the mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain — as do commercial antidepressants.
Further trials are under way.......
Source: http://www.nature.com/news/ayahuasca-psychedelic-tested-for-depression-1.17252
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