FDA fast-tracks magic mushroom chemical to treat depression
Note: billionaire Trump supporter Peter Thiel backs the company that makes it.
“The 'magic mushroom' chemical, psilocybin, has been named a Breakthrough Therapy by the FDA, expediting research on its use to treat depression.
The designation was introduced in 2012 and is reserved only for treatments for serious and life threatening conditions that may be better than existing ones.
Psilocybin is a Schedule I drug, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DA), but it and several other psychedelic drugs have lately gained traction as promising mental illness treatments.
In August, a trial of psilocybin got the FDA's approval for the first time ever.
The trial's results thus far have apparently been so promising for patients with treatment-resistant depression that the agency has now given it the rare classification, which could cut the time it takes to get approved in half…”
Hey, if it prevents depressed people from becoming suicidal people, more power to them. Depression, *Real Depression*, is crippling and should be treated as an emergency. I hope it works.
Bruce
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October 26, 2018, 10:55 AM
46and2
Trippy.
The topic itself has been trending quite a bit the last few years, microdosing 'shrooms and MDMA. I don't know much about it beyond the headlines but it sounds intriguing.
October 26, 2018, 11:08 AM
rusbro
Sounds promising, and considering how dangerous/harmful/ineffective many of the currently approved options are, I hope it's effective and available soon.
It's not like people who are in mental anguish every day and often on the brink of suicide have much to lose by trying.
October 26, 2018, 01:57 PM
TXJIM
I took shrooms a few times recreationally in high school and college. Aside from projectile vomiting about 45 minutes to 1 hour after eating them, the trip was pretty mellow and happy.
______________________________ “I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.” ― John Wayne
October 27, 2018, 03:06 PM
Pipe Smoker
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
I’m guessing that his state has been altered to “banned”. He looks seriously out of it…
Serious about crackers.
October 28, 2018, 08:36 AM
Pipe Smoker
An earlier (Dec, 2017) article, noting that billionaire Trump supporter Peter Thiel is an investor in Compass Pathways, which makes a commercial version of psilocybin.
“…The results of that study were so promising that they jump-started a sort of renaissance in psychedelic research that's now being led by a handful of non-profit research organizations and startups.
One of them is Compass Pathways, a for-profit company that Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel invested in last year. The UK-based group announced last week that it plans to start clinical trials of psilocybin for depression and anxiety sometime within the first three months of 2018, the Financial Times reported. They aim to enroll 400 people across eight countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and Spain - potentially making it the largest international study of the drug to-date. London-based entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, ex-hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz, and film producer Sam Englebardt are also backers of Compass…”
