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‘Magic Mushrooms’ Provide Fast, Long-lasting Depression Relief: Study

Treatment with psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms,” relieves major depression for up to a year, and perhaps longer, new research shows.

In a study of adults with a long-term history of depression, two doses of psilocybin, combined with supportive “talk” therapy, led to large, stable, and enduring antidepressant effects through a year of follow-up.

At 12 months, three-quarters of those in the study had an antidepressant response, and more than half were in remission from their depression, report researchers from the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

“Psilocybin not only produces significant and immediate effects, it also has a long duration, which suggests that it may be a uniquely useful new treatment for depression,” Roland Griffiths, PhD, a study investigator and founding director of the center, said in a statement.

“Compared to standard antidepressants, which must be taken for long stretches of time, psilocybin has the potential to enduringly relieve the symptoms of depression with one or two treatments,” he said.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) notes that psilocybin can alter a person’s perception and awareness of their surroundings and of their thoughts and feelings. Treatment with psilocybin has shown promise in research settings for treating a range of mental health disorders and addictions.

“The results we see are in a research setting and require quite a lot of preparation and structured support from trained clinicians and therapists, and people should not attempt to try it on their own,” cautioned Natalie Gukasyan, MD, who also worked on the study.

Psilocybin and related compounds are still not available for clinical use under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

magic-mushroom

The current study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, included 19 women and five men with moderate to severe depression. The vast majority had previously been treated with standard antidepressant medications, and more than half reported using antidepressants in their current depressive episodes.

At the time of psilocybin treatment, all study participants completed 6 to 8 hours of “preparatory” meetings with two people trained in psilocybin therapy. After that, they received two doses of psilocybin given about 2 weeks apart in a comfortable and controlled setting.

They returned for follow-up 1 day and 1 week after each session, and then at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the second session.

Psilocybin treatment led to large decreases in depression, and depression remained less severe up to 12 months after treatment.

There were no serious side effects related to psilocybin in the long-term follow-up period.

“We have not yet collected formal data past 1 year in our sample, [but] some participants in our study have stayed in touch and report continued improvements in mood,” Gukasyan tells WebMD.

“A previous study of psilocybin-assisted therapy in patients with cancer-related depression and anxiety symptoms found that improvements in mood and well-being may persist up to 4.5 years following treatment,” Gukasyan says.

The researchers say further research is needed to explore the chance that psilocybin’s antidepressant effects may last much longer than 12 months.

By Megan Brooks       Feb. 18, 2022

Sources:
Journal of Psychopharmacology: “Efficacy and safety of psilocybin-assisted treatment for major depressive disorder: Prospective 12-month follow-up.”

Natalie Gukasyan, MD, psychiatrist; assistant professor, Johns Hopkins University.

source: WebMD


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This Mineral Fights Depression — And It Is Cheaper And Safer Than Drugs

The supplement starts to take effect after only two weeks, the researchers found.

Over-the-counter magnesium is a safe and effective way to treat mild to moderate depression, a new study suggests.

The mineral magnesium has already been linked to lower inflammation and improvements in depression.

Now a new randomised controlled trial has tested the effects of magnesium chloride supplements compared with no treatment.

For the research, half of 126 people with mild to moderate depression were given 248 mg of magnesium chloride per day for six weeks.

After just two weeks, some positive effects of the supplement could be seen.

Those taking magnesium had clinically significant improvements over the six weeks.

People did not have any problems taking magnesium and there were no differences based on sex, age, whether people were also taking antidepressants, or other factors.

More than half of the people in the study said they would continue to take magnesium to help them with their depression.

Ms Emily Tarleton, the study’s first author, said:

“This is the first randomized clinical trial looking at the effect of magnesium supplementation on symptoms of depression in U.S. adults.
The results are very encouraging, given the great need for additional treatment options for depression, and our finding that magnesium supplementation provides a safe, fast and inexpensive approach to controlling depressive symptoms.”

Ms Tarleton says that the next stage is to move on to larger populations to see if the results can be replicated.

While many more studies have investigated antidepressant medications, there is also much evidence of their side-effects.

A survey of people taking antidepressants has found higher than expected levels of emotional numbness, sexual problems and even suicidal thoughts associated with the medication.

Of the 20 adverse effects to antidepressants that people were questioned about:

  • 62% said they had ‘sexual difficulties’,
  • 52% said they ‘didn’t feel like themselves’,
  • 42% noticed a ‘reduction in positive feelings’,
  • 39% found themselves ‘caring less about others’,
  • and 55% reported ‘withdrawal effects’.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE (Tarleton et al., 2017).

 
JULY 12, 2017
source: PsyBlog


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The Simple Treatment That Beats Antidepressants

Two-thirds of people with major depression were no longer depressed after this treatment.

A brisk walk three times a week can actually beat antidepressant medication in treating major depression, research finds.

The results come from a study on three groups of elderly people with major depressive disorder.

One group were given the exercise, another given antidepressant medication and the third both.

The results showed that all three groups improved the same amount.

Professor James Blumenthal, the study’s first author, said:

“One of the conclusions we can draw from this is that exercise may be just as effective as medication and may be a better alternative for certain patients.”

The results showed that after exercise almost two-thirds of participants were no longer depressed after 16 weeks.

One of the problems with exercise is that it may take a little longer to take effect.

Professor Blumenthal said:

“While we don’t know why exercise confers such a benefit, this study shows that exercise should be considered as a credible form of treatment for these patients.
Almost one-third of depressed patients in general do not respond to medications, and for others, the medications can cause unwanted side effects.
Exercise should be considered a viable option.”

Exercise could be particularly beneficial because people are taking an active role, rather than passively taking a pill, Professor Blumenthal said:

“Simply taking a pill is very passive.
Patients who exercised may have felt a greater sense of mastery over their condition and gained a greater sense of accomplishment.
They felt more self-confident and had better self-esteem because they were able to do it themselves, and attributed their improvement to their ability to exercise.
These findings could change the way some depressed patients are treated, especially those who are not interested in taking anti-depressants.
While these medications have been proven to be effective, many people want to avoid the side effects or are looking for a more ‘natural’ way of feeling better.”

The antidepressant tested in the study was sertraline, which is marketed as Zoloft.

The study was published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine (Blumenthal et al., 1999).

 source: PsyBlog


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Why You Might Want to Start Taking Fish Oil

Alexandra Sifferlin     @acsifferlin      April 26, 2016     

Combining depression drugs with nutrient supplements could make them more effective

Finding ways to make antidepressants more effective could help the millions of people who take them for depression. Now early research suggests pairing the medication with certain supplements, including omega-3 fish oil and vitamin D, could be one way to do so.

In the new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers looked at what happened when some supplements were paired with antidepressants. They combed 40 clinical trials that tested antidepressants taken in conjunction with omega-3s, vitamin D and zinc—nutritional supplements sometimes used to help treat depression, often called nutraceuticals.

The researchers found that people who took omega 3s with antidepressants reported fewer depressive symptoms compared to people taking antidepressants alone. While omega-3s had the most powerful effect, other nutraceuticals also improved the effects of antidepressants, including S-adenosylmethionine, a synthetic form of a compound formed naturally in the body that helps maintain cells and brain chemicals; methylfolate, a form of folate; and vitamin D. Mixed results were seen for zinc, folic acid, vitamin C and the amino acid tryptophan.

Research suggests that the supplements tested in the studies target some of the similar brain processes and pathways as antidepressants. Though recent research has been somewhat mixed, omega-3 supplements have been found to potentially benefit parts of the brain thought to be linked to depression and mood.

omega3

“Omega-3 fatty acids appear to exert a range of biological activity which may be beneficial for improving mood,” says study author Jerome Sarris, head of the ARCADIA Mental Health Research Group at the University of Melbourne, in an email. “The question remains whether when combined with medication, a unique beneficial interactive effect is occurring, or whether it is due to two distinct yet complementary mood elevating effects.”

Even though millions of Americans take antidepressants, there’s a lot experts don’t know about the drugs, including how exactly they work and why some people respond to them better than others. Antidepressants also appear to have a powerful placebo effect; recent data suggests that anywhere from 30-45% of response to an antidepressant is due to the power of placebo. Figuring out how to make the drugs more effective could help a lot of people.

“I’m cautiously optimistic about the results, which show some positive benefit,” says Dr. Richard Friedman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College who was not involved with the study. “There are many methodology concerns about individual studies, like small sample sizes. But the results of this study clearly justify more rigorous large randomized clinical trials of nutraceuticals in the treatment of depression.” Nutraceuticals are largely unregulated, he says, “so quality and purity is a concern.”

The researchers did not turn up major safety issues and found that overall the supplements were well-tolerated; the most commonly reported side effects were constipation, stomach upset and diarrhea. Still, people should consult with their physician about what supplements and medications to take, they conclude. Based on the findings, which need to be replicated in larger studies, taking supplements alongside antidepressants may be a low-cost way to improve treatment.

source: time.com