Caduceus Mercurius
Holofractale de l'hypervérité
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LSD, Ketamine and Cannabis could treat conditions from headache to diabetes
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 as the magic bullet to everything from alcoholism to migraine. But they became caught in the crossfire of the cultural wars of the times. Western politicians banned the use of psychedelics in research once they started to be used recreationally, and became associated with flower-power and the counter culture. The drugs were dangerous; the science was flawed; the researchers biased.
But a comeback has been under way for more than a decade. A new generation of researchers say that psychedelic drugs can treat conditions such as addiction, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and a type of headache called cluster headache.
Studies with Ecstasy and LSD are planned or are under way in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Israel. And so big is this scientific movement that researchers and speakers are gathered this weekend [March 21-24] in Basel, Switzerland, for the inaugural World Psychedelic Forum. Here are some of the drugs they may be discussing. ECSTASY In the mid to late-Eighties, Ecstasy, or its chemical name MDMA, was used therapeutically by psychotherapists on the West Coast of the US. They were wowed by its ability to break down psychological barriers between patient and practitioner, and instil feelings of empathy and calm. It was found to be particularly useful in marriage counselling.
How it achieves its effect is not clear, but it is thought to affect the action of two moodenhancing brain chemicals, serotonin and dopamine. Proponents say that the drug allows people to open up and express themselves in ways that they otherwise might not be able to. They are also more relaxed and calm, which helps to stop them becoming traumatised again when they revisit painful memories. The drug is neurotoxic at high doses, but the debate continues as to whether a few low to medium doses causes permanent damage.
Supporters argue that any risk is outweighed by the possible benefits for people who have not responded to conventional treatments, and that limited exposure to the drug in moderate doses will not result in addiction or long-term memory problems. Michael Mithoefer, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, is finishing a study into MDMA's effect on patients with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. He says the preliminary results are promising and that the therapeutic response “warrants our going on to larger studies
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 as the magic bullet to everything from alcoholism to migraine. But they became caught in the crossfire of the cultural wars of the times. Western politicians banned the use of psychedelics in research once they started to be used recreationally, and became associated with flower-power and the counter culture. The drugs were dangerous; the science was flawed; the researchers biased.
But a comeback has been under way for more than a decade. A new generation of researchers say that psychedelic drugs can treat conditions such as addiction, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and a type of headache called cluster headache.
Studies with Ecstasy and LSD are planned or are under way in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Israel. And so big is this scientific movement that researchers and speakers are gathered this weekend [March 21-24] in Basel, Switzerland, for the inaugural World Psychedelic Forum. Here are some of the drugs they may be discussing. ECSTASY In the mid to late-Eighties, Ecstasy, or its chemical name MDMA, was used therapeutically by psychotherapists on the West Coast of the US. They were wowed by its ability to break down psychological barriers between patient and practitioner, and instil feelings of empathy and calm. It was found to be particularly useful in marriage counselling.
How it achieves its effect is not clear, but it is thought to affect the action of two moodenhancing brain chemicals, serotonin and dopamine. Proponents say that the drug allows people to open up and express themselves in ways that they otherwise might not be able to. They are also more relaxed and calm, which helps to stop them becoming traumatised again when they revisit painful memories. The drug is neurotoxic at high doses, but the debate continues as to whether a few low to medium doses causes permanent damage.
Supporters argue that any risk is outweighed by the possible benefits for people who have not responded to conventional treatments, and that limited exposure to the drug in moderate doses will not result in addiction or long-term memory problems. Michael Mithoefer, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, is finishing a study into MDMA's effect on patients with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. He says the preliminary results are promising and that the therapeutic response “warrants our going on to larger studies
