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Swimming in acid 🐠

Fish on acid? Microdosing zebrafish with LSD shows its potential benefits for humans

New research suggests that microdosing doesn’t cause withdrawal symptoms. But can it ease withdrawals from other substances?

MacEwan University researchers found that zebrafish showed increased anxiety behaviour during withdrawal from alcohol, consistent with symptoms that humans experience.  

However, when the zebrafish were given microdoses of LSD for 10 days (by putting them in a “dosing tank” for a precise period of time), there were no observed behavioural changes. This indicates that microdosing is not addictive and does not cause withdrawal symptoms. 

A study that’s currently underway will examine LSD microdoses on alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

The Conversation

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Treating rare disorders with ketamine

PharmaTher Granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Ketamine to Treat Status Epilepticus

PharmaTher (PHRM) is developing a treatment for a rare, seizure-inducing disorder called Status Epilepticus using ketamine. This week, it was granted a designation that will save them millions of dollars in the process. 

It’s called an Orphan Drug Designation and it gives the company potential tax credits, grant eligibility, and marketing exclusivity, and waives a $2.4M New Drug Application fee. It’s designed to incentivize R&D of treatments for rare conditions.

PharmaTher previously received the designation for ketamine to treat ALS and complex regional pain syndrome too!

PharmaTher Inc.

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A cure for the most annoying Covid symptom?

Can Shrooms Restore Your Taste And Smell After Covid?

Even months or years after recovering from Covid, many people have no sense of taste or smell – or worse, everything tastes and smells disgusting. 

People are rushing to Reddit and Twitter to share that they’ve finally found a cure: shrooms!

Some report that their senses returned to normal after one dose while others say they were restored gradually over a handful of trips.

Here’s one Reddit user’s experience: “I was shocked and elated.. ran around to find a candle, picked it up, lavender! Began to cry. Began smelling everything in sight. You don’t realize how beautiful it is to smell things, until you can’t smell for almost a year.”

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Is this why ketamine helps with depression?

Perception study may explain promising depression therapy

Our brains are constantly making predictions about the world around us based on learned associations – if we hear sirens, we expect to see an ambulance. 

A recent study by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers found that ketamine blocks the chemical signals that allow us to make predictions.

Why is this beneficial?

Many disorders are rooted in poor predictions. For instance, patients with depression often predict that the worst case scenario is bound to happen. 

“Blocking the negative predictions that are prominent in depressed patients could be how ketamine helps,” explains the school’s psychology and neuroscience professor.

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Donating psilocybin to patients in need

Red Light Holland’s Partner CCrest Laboratories Approved By Health Canada to Supply Psilocybin to the Special Access Program

CCrest Laboratories is donating psilocybin truffles so patients in need can access the medicine for free through Canada’s Special Access Program (SAP).

The company was just approved as a licensed psilocybin producer by Health Canada, along with Numinus Wellness (NUMI) and Filament Health’s (FH) Psilo Scientific, allowing them to supply psilocybin for clinical trials and emergency treatments through the SAP. 

The truffles will be grown by Red Light Holland (TRUFF) and tested at CCrest Labs before being donated as part of their “compassionate need and free supply” approach.

Red Light Holland Corp.

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MAPS receives Innovation Passport for MDMA therapy 🎉

MAPS is Granted Innovation Passport in United Kingdom for MDMA as an Adjunct to Therapy for PTSD

The Innovation Passport will make MDMA therapy for PTSD widely available in the UK, as rapidly as possible!

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) found that 88% of patients had a reduction in PTSD symptoms after three MDMA sessions in conjunction with trauma-focused therapy. 

The organization was granted an Innovation Passport for the treatment – a UK designation that speeds up the timeline for approval of innovative medicines for life-threatening conditions (similar to Breakthrough Therapy Designations in the US, which the treatment received in 2017).

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies – MAPS

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Join our virtual Mental Health Town Hall

We’re collaborating with experts at Entheon Biomedical (ENBI) to bring you a special virtual event on February 3rd. 

Here’s what you can expect to learn:

  • The latest psychedelic research on mental health and addiction
  • How psychedelics can be used for personal development
  • All things microdosing
  • Where the industry is headed
  • Answers to all your burning questions

You’ll hear insights and stories from:

  • Timothy Ko, CEO and Founder of Entheon
  • Dr. Andrew Greenshaw, Scientific Advisor to Entheon and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of Alberta
  • David Mayoh, Communications Manager at Entheon
  • Thomas Hartle, the first Canadian to receive psilocybin therapy
  • And more

Now is your chance to get your questions answered by industry experts and connect with fellow members of the Daily Mushroom Community. We can’t wait to see you there. Register for free here.

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Rescheduling psilocybin GLOBALLY 🌍

Global coalition launches initiative to secure the rescheduling of psilocybin

“Given today’s scientific understanding of psilocybin’s high potential therapeutic value and low risk of dependence, a change of its status as a Schedule I drug is long overdue,” according to Christopher Koddermann.

That’s why he co-founded The International Therapeutic Psilocybin Rescheduling Initiative (ITPRI) – an initiative that’s pushing for psilocybin to be rescheduled on a global scale.

ITPRI aims to reschedule psilocybin through the United Nations’ Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which was enacted over 50 years ago 😼 This would significantly reduce the regulatory barriers that impede psilocybin research and access to treatment.

So yes, rescheduling is long overdue, but better late than never!

The UK's Leading CBD Network

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Slowing the progression of ALS

PharmaTher Announces FDA Approval of Investigational New Drug (IND) Application for Ketamine to Treat ALS

When diagnosed with ALS, patients are typically given 2 to 6 years to live and experience rapid decline in muscle function. Even after the ice bucket challenge took the internet by storm, a cure has yet to be found. 

Luckily, ketamine is showing potential to slow the progression of the disease to improve both the quality and length of patients’ lives.

In a mouse model of ALS, PharmaTher (PHRM) found that ketamine preserved muscle function and increased life expectancy if administered in the early stages of the disease. 

The company received FDA approval for a Phase II trial that will assess a biomarker of neurodegeneration, functional abilities, muscle strength, and depression scores among ALS patients undergoing ketamine treatments.

PharmaTher Inc.

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