🍄 Results from the largest clinical trial of psilocybin to date 🍄

Psilocybin is a psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms. 

But unlike magic mushrooms, which are used as a recreational drug for their hallucinogenic effects, psilocybin is being researched in the area of mental health. 

Now, the largest clinical trial of psilocybin to date has just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

🌎 233 participants living in 10 different countries participated. They all had depression that was not responding to standard treatments. 

For the trial, participants received psychological support along with a single dose of a proprietary form of synthetic psilocybin (either 25 mg, 10 mg, or 1 mg as the control). 

Here were the results:

✅ Compared with the 1 mg dose, the 25 mg dose (but not the 10 mg dose) of psilocybin led to significant improvement in depression symptoms at week 3.

✅ 37% of the people in the 25 mg group met the criteria for response (more than 50% improvement) at week 3.

✅ 20% of the people in the 25 mg group maintained benefits by week 12. 

✅ Side effects occurred in a total of 77% of all participants and included headache, nausea, and dizziness.

What’s particularly interesting is the long-lasting effects of psilocybin. This study only tracked results for 12 weeks, but an earlier study found the effects of just 2 doses of psilocybin lasted up to 12 months. 

Most countries have some level of regulation or prohibition of psilocybin as an illegal drug, but some states in the US have recently legalized psilocybin mushrooms for medical use. 

It’s a hot controversy—what do you think?

Reference

Goodwin GM, Aaronson ST, Alvarez O, et al. Single-Dose Psilocybin for a Treatment-Resistant Episode of Major Depression. N Engl J Med. 2022;387(18):1637-1648. [link]