Health
Psychedelic drug popular in 1960s could ease anxiety as doctors share warnings
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A new study suggests that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as acid, could reduce anxiety.
This marks the first-ever trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MM120 (a pharmaceutical formulation of LSD) as a monotherapy for patients with moderate to severe generalized anxiety disorder, according to lead author Daniel Karlin, M.D., chief medical officer of MindMed, a biopharmaceutical company in New York.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Nearly 200 adults between the ages of 18 and 74 received either a single oral dose of LSD at various does, or a placebo “dummy pill,” for a three-month period, according to a press release.
The dosing sessions were individually conducted in private rooms with two trained monitors who observed the participants for at least 12 hours. No psychotherapy was provided.
A new study suggests that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as acid, could reduce anxiety. (iStock)
Researchers tracked changes in participants’ anxiety scores at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12, with week 4 serving as the main point of evaluation.
After the four weeks, patients receiving the highest doses had significantly lower anxiety scores than the others.
At 12 weeks, 65% of patients taking 100 milligrams showed benefits, with nearly 50% in remission from anxiety.
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Researchers also tested LSD’s impact on depression, finding that the highest doses were linked to significant improvements.
Karlin shared that the effects of LSD were almost immediate. Side effects of the psychedelic included hallucinations, nausea and headaches.
LSD was shown to reduce symptoms in adults with generalized anxiety disorder, with 100-microgram doses proving most effective in a clinical trial. (iStock)
The effects were dose-dependent, with 100 milligrams being the optimal dose. The 200-milligram dose also significantly outperformed the placebo. The 25-milligram and 50-milligram doses did not show significant benefits.
One possible study complication was “functional unbinding,” in which trial participants could correctly guess whether they had received the active medication versus a placebo, according to Karlin.
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The drugmaker plans to conduct two large, late-stage trials to track patients over a longer period of time.
If the study is deemed successful, MindMed will submit the drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval.
Risks and legalities
LSD is classified as a Schedule I drug, which means it’s considered to have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Schedule I drugs are not legally allowed to be prescribed, dispensed or used in medical treatment, except for approved research.
If the study is deemed successful, Mindmed will submit the experimental drug to the FDA for approval. (iStock)
The FDA has designated LSD, psilocybin and MDMA as “potential breakthrough therapies,” Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel told Fox News Digital.
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“The key is careful oversight and meticulous research, which monitors both side effects and effectiveness,” said Siegel.
While this new study shows a “very positive result in around 200 patients,” Siegel confirmed that LSD can cause hallucinations.
Additional documented side effects may include paranoia, mood swings, increased heart rate and long-term psychosis, according to multiple sources.
“The key is careful oversight and meticulous research, which monitors both side effects and effectiveness.”
Hadas Alterman, a psychedelic medicine attorney in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that “LSD’s return is not just cultural or scientific, it’s regulatory.”
The expert says psychedelics were “sidelined” due to the “sweeping expansion of FDA authority under the 1962 Kefauver–Harris Amendments.”
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This legislation, also called the Drug Efficacy Amendments, required drug manufacturers to provide substantial evidence of efficacy through well-controlled clinical trials before approval.
“LSD and other psychedelics have long shown clinical promise, but the excess recreational use in the 1960s pushed researchers away from continuing to study it,” Siegel added.
“LSD and other psychedelics have long shown clinical promise, but the excess recreational use in the 1960s pushed researchers away from continuing to study it,” a doctor said. (iStock)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins have conveyed interest in exploring psychedelic therapy.
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“This line of therapeutics has tremendous advantage if given in a clinical setting, and we are working very hard to make sure that happens within 12 months,” RFK recently told members of Congress, per AP.
Psychedelics advocate Alterman noted that while the support “doesn’t replace science,” it encourages institutions like FDA to “take this seriously.”
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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