Health
Parkinson's patients who take 'magic mushrooms' see key benefits, study finds
As Parkinson’s cases continue to rise, the race is on for therapies to combat the effects of the disease — and researchers have pinpointed an unlikely source of relief.
Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in some mushrooms, has been found to improve mood, cognition and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients, according to a new study from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).
The substance, often referred to as “magic mushrooms,” has previously been shown to alleviate depression and anxiety, which prompted the researchers to explore its potential for Parkinson’s.
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People with the neurological movement disorder often suffer from “debilitating mood dysfunction” and don’t tend to respond well to traditional antidepressants, according to a UCSF press release.
Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in some mushrooms, has been found to improve mood, cognition and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients. (iStock)
“Many people don’t realize this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s are linked to a faster physical decline,” said lead study author Ellen Bradley, M.D., assistant professor and associate director of UCSF’s Translational Psychedelic Research Program, in the release.
“And they are actually a stronger predictor of patients’ quality of life with Parkinson’s than their motor symptoms.”
The small study included 12 people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease. They ranged in age from 40 to 75. All had depression and/or anxiety.
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They all received a 10 mg-dose of psilocybin, then a 25 mg-dose two weeks later. To measure the effects, the participants met with a licensed therapist before and after receiving the medication.
At the one-week and one-month follow-ups, the patients reported “clinically significant improvements” not only in mood and cognition, but also motor function.
“Many people don’t realize this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s are linked to a faster physical decline.”
“These results are really encouraging,” Bradley told Fox News Digital. “Depression and anxiety, which debilitate so many people with Parkinson’s, improved significantly — and those improvements lasted for at least three months after patients took the drug.”
Amir Inamdar, a pharmaceutical physician in the U.K. and chief medical officer at Cybin, noted that the improvement in motor symptoms was somewhat surprising.
“As the authors note, this could be because of the modulation of dopamine via psilocybin’s effect on several serotonin receptor types.” (Inamdar was not involved in the study.)
The most common side effects of psilocybin were anxiety, nausea, headache and elevated blood pressure, but none were serious enough to require medical care, according to the researchers.
People with the neurological movement disorder often suffer from “debilitating mood dysfunction” and don’t tend to respond well to traditional antidepressants. (iStock)
“Despite the reports of challenging experiences in a couple of participants, psilocybin seemed to be well-tolerated,” Inamdar noted. “The side effects were consistent with what has been seen in other studies, with no precipitation/ exacerbation of psychotic symptoms.”
The study, which was published in Neuropsychopharmacology, a Nature publication, was funded by an anonymous donor.
Limitations and further research
This was the first study to measure the effects of a psychedelic substance on patients with a neurodegenerative disease, according to USCF.
While this study was an “important first step,” Bradley noted that the researchers can’t draw conclusions from it, as it was a small pilot without a control group.
“We’ve now started a much larger trial designed to rigorously test if psilocybin is effective in Parkison’s,” she told Fox News Digital.
“We’re also collecting multimodal biological data to understand how psilocybin works. That’s critical not just for optimizing psilocybin treatments, but also for guiding development of next-generation psychedelics that are in the pipeline now and could be promising for people with Parkinson’s.”
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Bradley still recommends that Parkinson’s patients approach psilocybin and other psychedelics with “a lot of caution.”
“I wouldn’t recommend to my patients with Parkinson’s that they start using psilocybin,” she clarified. “We’re very, very early in this research, and we don’t think these drugs will be safe for everyone with the illness.”
This was the first study to measure the effects of a psychedelic substance on patients with a neurodegenerative disease, according to USCF. (iStock)
“I hope that people continue to advocate for research so we can speed this process of identifying the right psychedelic treatment for the right patient at the right time.”
Inamadar agreed that while the results are encouraging, the study was based on a small and limited sample.
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“The study was also open-label, which lends itself to higher expectancy effects, though the improvements in mood and anxiety symptoms were still seen at three months,” he added.
“Overall, [the] quite encouraging results warrant further investigation, certainly in trying to understand the mechanism behind improvement in motor symptoms.”
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Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27.
In a post on Substack titled “The Day I’ll Never Remember,” she detailed a sudden episode that left her unable to recall the current month, year and president.
“I thought it was 2024. And I believed Joe Biden was president,” she wrote.
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The event occurred while Couric was attending the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, during which she participated in two public panels — one on AI and one on journalism — both of which she cannot remember at all.
“I have no idea what we talked about, or of what occurred when the panels ended,” she said.
Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27. (Getty Images)
John Molner — Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels — also shared his account.
After the event, someone told Molner that Katie wasn’t feeling well. When he reached her, an EMT and a doctor were tending to her. “I could tell something was off,” he wrote. “It could have been altitude sickness, but Katie was definitely not all there.”
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At the hospital, when Couric struggled to recall the year, the president and her grandchildren’s names, doctors began checking for a stroke.
An MRI revealed no signs of stroke, which was a relief, but “Katie’s ‘fog’ became a lot more apparent,” Molner wrote.
John Molner, Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels, also shared his account. (Getty Images)
“She repeatedly asked me the same questions: ‘What was I doing before we got to the hospital?’ ‘Why am I at the hospital?’”
Couric was ultimately diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that prevents a person from forming new memories and may also erase some recent memories, according to Mayo Clinic.
“The cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself.”
It is not caused by a stroke, seizure or head injury, and it usually resolves completely within 24 hours.
“[It’s] just a very weird neural episode that’s pretty uncommon and, at least in most cases, is a ‘one and done’ experience,” Molner said.
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Couric said she finally began feeling “like herself” again around 9 p.m. and went to sleep at 2 a.m.
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.”
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.” (Getty Images)
Data shows that approximately three to eight people per 100,000 will have an episode of transient global amnesia, with people 50 years of age and older at higher risk.
The specific cause of TGA is not known, but some experts believe it stems from a “temporary dysfunction in the brain’s hippocampus — the area responsible for creating new memories,” Couric shared.
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“Doctors believe this is driven by brief interruptions in blood or oxygen flow, or microscopic spasm in the blood vessels.”
Episodes could potentially be triggered by intense physical exertion, emotional distress, extreme temperature changes or migraines, experts say.
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Approximately 15% of patients will have a recurrence 10 years later.
“Why did this happen to me? Was the altitude an issue? Was I dehydrated? Tired? Stressed? The literature doesn’t seem to indicate that these are contributing factors, but the cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself,” Couric wrote.
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise. (iStock)
“All I know is that those hours will be forever lost. Someone described it as my brain failing to hit the ‘record button.’”
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“While this was a freaky occurrence, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I’m relieved — even though several hours of a Saturday in June will always be missing for me.”
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise.
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Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers.
That’s according to a recent study led by Stony Brook Medicine in New York, which evaluated the cognitive function of 4,000 adults 80 and over who participated in multiple aging and longevity studies over several years.
Among this group, 6% to 10% were classified as super movers, which means they walk at a much faster pace than others of the same age and gender — at speeds comparable to people three decades younger.
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The super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology on June 16.
Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers. (iStock)
“The study reinforces that mobility and brain health are closely connected,” lead study author Dr. Joe Verghese, MD, neurologist at Stony Brook Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This suggests that preserving mobility may be an important marker of healthy brain aging and resilience.”
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The most intriguing finding, according to Verghese, was that super movers maintained cognitive function despite having similar dementia-related brain changes as their peers.
In postmortem brain analysis, there was no difference in dementia-related pathologies between the super movers and the slower walkers, the study stated.
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“This suggests they may possess resilience mechanisms that help preserve brain function even in the presence of age-related changes,” he said. “Understanding these resilience factors could lead to new strategies for promoting healthy brain aging.”
As the study was observational, there were some limitations, and it does not prove that walking faster prevents dementia, the researchers noted.
Super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed. (iStock)
“Other factors, such as cardiovascular health, physical fitness or genetics, may also contribute to both faster walking and better cognitive outcomes,” Verghese said.
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This study adds to growing evidence that what’s good for the heart and muscles also benefits the brain, he noted, adding that “staying physically active remains one of the most effective, evidence-based ways to support healthy aging.”
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment.”
“The broader message is that physical activity is important at any age,” Verghese said. “Walking is an easy step-up point because you don’t need any special equipment. You can do it inside or outdoors, and you can do it on a regular basis. You can walk with a dog, you can walk with a friend.”
Any activity is beneficial if it’s done regularly and with the right intensity, he added.
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Rather than just trying to walk faster, the neurologist recommends that seniors focus on maintaining mobility through regular physical activity, strength training, balance exercises and good cardiovascular health.
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment,” Verghese noted.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking. (iStock)
This can be achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or about 20 to 25 minutes most days. Another option is to engage in shorter sessions that add up over the day.
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“You have to do it within your health limitations and medical conditions,” Verghese advised. “So if there are any medical concerns, I would get your physician to clear you before starting exercise.” The good thing about walking, he added, is that you can start at a slow pace and then gradually build up to a brisker pace.
“And then adding on strength and balance training, whatever age you are, I think is also important.”
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