A new study may offer hope for Leo and others like him
The "vine of the spirits"
Ayahuasca, a word of the native Quechua language, means "the vine spirits ". The peoples of the Amazon region of Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador have been using Ayahuasca for centuries for therapeutic and spiritual purposes.
The properties of the medicinal drink come from two plants. Banisteriopsis caapi, a vine that sneaks up to the treetops and on the banks of the Amazon basin, is boiled with Psychotria viridis, a shrub whose leaves contain the psychoactive molecule DMT
From the 1930s, Brazilian religions were founded around ayahuasca as a sacrament. In the 1980s, the ritual of ayahuasca spread to the cities of Brazil and the world.
Ayahuasca became legal for the first time in Brazil in 1987, after the Federal Drug Agency had concluded that benefits from taking it. Some people who drink ayahuasca say they feel at peace with themselves, God and the universe.
For our study, which took place at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, researchers recruited 218 depressive patients. Twenty-nine of them were selected because they suffered from treatment-resistant depression and no history of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, which the use of ayahuasca can worsen.
The suicidal nation: what explains the need to escape? 19659011] These 29 people were randomly badigned to undergo a single treatment session, in which they received either ayahuasca or a placebo substance to drink. The placebo was a brownish liquid, bitter and acid-flavored, consisting of water, yeast, citric acid and caramel colorant. Zinc sulphate mimicked two well-known side effects of ayahuasca, nausea and vomiting
The acute effects of ayahuasca – which include dreamy visions, vomiting, and intense introspection – last about four hours. During this period, participants listened to two playlists, one containing instrumental music and the other songs sung in Portuguese
Patients were monitored by two members of the team who helped those who felt anxious. 19659017] One day after the treatment session, we observed significant improvements in 50% of patients, including reduced anxiety and improved mood.
A week later, 64% of patients received ayahuasca. . Only 27% of those in the placebo group showed such effects
Based on previous evidence
Our results support a 2015 Brazilian clinical trial on the potential of 39, ayahuasca as an antidepressant. The study, conducted by Dr. Jaime Hallak of the University of São Paulo, also showed that a single session of ayahuasca had a fast-acting anti-depressant effect. All 17 participants reported that symptoms of depression decreased in the first hours after ingestion of ayahuasca. The effect lasted 21 days
This study was received significant attention from scientists. His promising findings were limited, however, because there were no control groups of patients who received a placebo.
In clinical trials on depression, up to 45 percent of patients who take a placebo can report significant benefits. The placebo effect of depression is so strong that some scientists have wondered if antidepressants really work.
An inexpensive way to get pregnant women out of depression
Hallak and other researchers from the 2015 study of the University of São Paulo were part of our clinical trial of
Religion Become Science
These two studies, although preliminary, contribute to a growing number of psychedelic evidence. drugs like ayahuasca, LSD and fungi can help people with depression difficult to treat.
But because these substances are illegal in many countries, including the United States, their therapeutic value has been difficult to test. Even in Brazil, the use of ayahuasca as an antidepressant remains a marginal informal enterprise
Leon, the Brazilian blogger, discovered drugs by doing research on the Internet. "Desperate" to find solutions to his insoluble state, Leon decided to take part in an ayahuasca ceremony in a church of Santo Daime in Rio de Janeiro, one of the Brazilian religions that use the same name. ayahuasca as a sacrament.
The church does not follow its members, but União do Vegetal, a similar faith, has about 19,000 members worldwide.
These religious organizations are among the many groups throughout the Americas that harvest indigenous traditions around natural psychedelics. They believe that psychoactive plants like ayahuasca, peyote, or psilocybin open people's minds to metaphysical realms and deeply meaningful experiences.
This spiritual knowledge is now translated into the language of science in Brazil, the United States, and Canada. rigorous medical evaluations of these substances
The healing power of the psychedelic experience
Leon's blog provides an excellent description of his experience of the ayahuasca
Sometimes it evokes visions – dream scenarios offered a rare glimpse into the relationships in his life. At other times, Leo experienced "a feeling of ecstasy and a deep sense of manifest inner spirituality."
We believe that these effects are essential to the success of ayahuasca
Participants in our study responded to the Hallucinogen badessment scale. , which helps to translate these ineffable experiences into numbers. Participants who took ayahuasca scored significantly higher than those who drank a placebo
Those who described the most abundant visual, auditory, and physical effects during their ayahuasca trip had the highest health benefits. more marked reduction of depression seven days later. Ayahuasca is not a panacea. Such experiences may be too difficult physically and emotionally for some people to use regularly as treatment. We have also observed regular users of ayahuasca who are still suffering from depression.
But, as our study demonstrates, this Amazonian sacred plant has the potential to be safely and effectively used to treat even the most difficult depression to treat
] Luís Fernando Tófoli is Professor of Psychiatry at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Brazilian Platform for Drug Policy. Dráulio Barros de Araújo is a professor at the Brain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Fernanda Palhano-Fontes is at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Barros de Araújo and Palhano-Fontes receive funding from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and the CAPES Foundation, a funding entity of the Ministry of Education.
