Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can help terminally ill cancer patients who are struggling with anxiety, a new study found. Under the supervision of trained therapists, a group of patients was found to experience relief after a guided trip on the hallucinogenic drug. Months after taking the drug, the patients reported feeling less anxious and their overall mood had shown improvement, according to follow-up interviews with researchers. "By the six-month mark, the group's average score on a common scale used to measure depression had declined by 30 percent, according to the study, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry," Health.com reported. Some of the patients said that their experience with the drug brought them closer to friends and family and even gave them a new perspective on their illness. Most notably, the hallucinogenic did not bring about any unwanted side effects. "We were pleased with the results," said Charles Grob, the lead researcher and a professor of psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Other were too. The findings are "important because he's showing that you can administer these compounds safely to cancer patients with anxiety," said Roland Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "They're not substances that should be used recreationally or casually, but nonetheless it appears that we can conduct research with these compounds safely." Funded by private foundations and a nonprofit out of Sante Fe, Grob's study is the first of its kind in decades, as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only a handful of small studies involving hallocinogens since they were outlawed in the 1970s.
Read original story in Health.com | Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010
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