Parkinson’s patients take ‘magical fungi’ see the key benefits, the study finds
As Parkinson’s cases continue to increase, the race is underway for therapies to fight the effects of the disease, and researchers have identified an unlikely source of relief.
It has been found that psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in some fungi, improves mood, cognition and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients, according to a new study by the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF).
The substance, often called “magical fungi”, has previously demonstrated that it relieves depression and anxiety, which led researchers to explore their potential for Parkinson.
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People with neurological movement disorder often suffer from “weakening mood dysfunction” and do not tend to respond well to traditional antidepressants, according to a UCSF press release.

It has been found that psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in some fungi, improves mood, cognition and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients. (Istock)
“Many people do not realize this, but the symptoms of mood in Parkinson are linked to faster physical decrease,” said the main study author Ellen Bradley, MD, assistant teacher and associated director of the Psychodelic Research Program of UCSF, in the statement.
“And they are actually a stronger predictor of the quality of life of patients with that of Parkinson’s than their motor symptoms.”
The small study included 12 people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease. They had ages between 40 and 75 years. They all had depression and/or anxiety.
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All received a dose of 10 mg of psilocybin, then a dose of 25 mg two weeks later. To measure the effects, the participants met with a licensed therapist before and after receiving the medication.
In the follow -ups of a week and a month, patients reported “clinically significant improvements” not only in mood and cognition, but also the motor function.
“Many people do not realize this, but the symptoms of mood in Parkinson’s are linked to a faster physical decline.”
“These results are really encouraging,” Bradley told News Digital. “Depression and anxiety, which weaken so many people with Parkinson, improved significantly, and those improvements lasted at least three months after patients took the medication.”
Amir Inamdar, a pharmaceutical doctor in the United Kingdom and medical director of Cybin, said that the improvement in motor symptoms was surprising.
“As the authors point out, this could be due to the modulation of dopamine through the psilocybin effect on various types of serotonin receptors.” (Inamdar did not participate in the study).
The most common side effects of psilocybin were anxiety, nausea, headache and high blood pressure, but none was serious enough to require medical care, according to researchers.

People with neurological movement disorder often suffer from “weakening mood dysfunction” and do not 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 said. “The side effects were consistent with what has been seen in other studies, without precipitation/ exacerbation of psychotic symptoms.”
The study, which was published in Neuropsychopharmacy, a publication of nature, was funded by an anonymous donor.
Additional limitations and research
This was the first study to measure the effects of a psychedelic substance in patients with neurodegenerative disease, according to the USCF.
While this study was an “first important step,” Bradley said researchers cannot draw conclusions from him, since he was a small pilot without a control group.
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“Now we have started a much larger test designed to rigorously test if the psilocybin is effective in Parkison,” Digital’s News told News.
“We are also collecting multimodal biological data to understand how psilocybin works. That is essential not only to optimize psilocybin treatments, but also to guide the development of next -generation psychedelics who are now in process and could be promising for people with Parkinson.”
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Bradley still recommends that Parkinson’s patients approach psilocybin and other psychedelics with “a lot of caution.”
“I would not recommend to my patients with Parkinson that they start using psilocybin,” he said. “We are very, very early in this research, and we do not believe that these drugs are safe for everyone with the disease.”

This was the first study to measure the effects of a psychedelic substance in patients with neurodegenerative disease, according to the USCF. (Istock)
“I hope people continue to advocate for the research so that we can accelerate this process of identifying the adequate 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, what is provided for greater expectation purposes, although the improvements in the symptoms of mood and anxiety were still observed after three months,” he added.
“In general, [the] The quite encouraging results justify additional investigation, certainly trying to understand the mechanism behind the improvement of motor symptoms. “
Melissa Rudy is a senior health editor and a member of the lifestyle in News Digital. The advice of history can be sent to melissa.rudy@News.com.


