Study shows that dimethyltryptamine may work as an antidepressant. A short half-life of 5 minutes is an essential factor.
It is estimated that more than 300 million people are in depression. There are many ways, with or without drugs, to alleviate symptoms.
Now a new possibility arises: according to a new, a single dose of the active ayahuasca compound significantly reduces symptoms of depression.
The psychoactive component of ayahuasca is the dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a potent natural and leading psychedelic.
DMT administered intravenously has a short half-life (5 minutes); is the time it takes for the drug concentration in the blood to reduce by half after administration, due to rapid metabolism.
This is what allows shorter therapy sessions – and increase convenience for patients and reduce costsresume o .
In this study by Imperial College London, few participants participated, just 34; was purposeful, to minimize exposure to potentially ineffective treatments and focus on a specific patient group. Everyone had been living with depression for 10 years.
Among the 17 participants who received a single dose of 21.5 milligrams of DMT, there was one significantly greater reduction in symptoms depressive than the other 17, who received placebo. The effects remained up to three months after the start of the trial.
DMT was well tolerated, no serious adverse episodes. Among the mild or moderate side effects, the most common was pain at the injection site.
Still, there may be a risk of “negative experiences during the psychedelic episode, which can be frightening or traumatic,” said James Stone, professor of psychiatry at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
