Palo Alto, California — A new study has revealed that an African psychedelic plant “significantly” reduced symptoms in veterans with traumatic brain injuries. plant, ibogaine, a natural compound found in the roots of the African shrub Iboga. It has been shown to effectively improve functional disability, PTSD, depression, and anxiety in veterans.
This plant-based psychoactive drug has been used in shamanic rituals in Africa for thousands of years. Surprisingly, it appears to have no harmful side effects, and some veterans report that this experimental treatment has saved their lives.
A research team at Stanford Medicine believes that ibogaine has the potential to rehabilitate and treat PTSD, anxiety, and depression in individuals without brain injury. Ibogaine has been used for thousands of years and serves a variety of purposes, including as a hallucinogen, hunger and fatigue suppressant, and even as an aphrodisiac. However, the main active ingredient from the West African shrub Tavernante iboga, which grows in Congo and Angola, can be deadly.
In the United States, ibogaine is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance and is not approved for legitimate treatment. In the UK, it is legal to possess the substance, but it is not legal to distribute it outside of a medical setting. Recent scientific research has highlighted its effectiveness in treating addiction and depression.
This latest research natural medicine, adding evidence to support the drug's effectiveness. Researchers at Stanford University focused on treating U.S. Special Forces veterans who suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI), defined as disruption of normal brain function due to an external force such as an explosion or vehicle crash. These lesions can cause neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Thousands of U.S. soldiers who participated in recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have suffered traumatic brain injuries, which are suspected to be contributing to high rates of depression and suicide among veterans.
Mainstream treatments don't work well enough for some veterans, so researchers are exploring alternative treatments. Ibogaine has recently gained attention in the treatment of opioid and cocaine addiction, increasing signaling in brain molecules associated with drug addiction and depression.
Since 1970, ibogaine has been a Schedule I drug in the United States, which restricts its use. As a result, some Americans are reportedly traveling to Canada and Mexico, where ibogaine treatment is legal. Dr. Nolan Williams, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University and lead author of the study, points to the success of such clinics in treating veterans.
“Several veterans who visited this clinic in Mexico anecdotally reported significant improvements in all areas of their lives after taking ibogaine,” Williams wrote in the paper. There is. media release. “Our goal was to characterize these improvements through structured clinical and neurobiological assessments.”
The research team collaborated with VETS, Inc., a foundation that promotes psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans. They selected a group of 30 special operations veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and repeated blast exposure. Almost everyone in the group experienced severe psychiatric symptoms or functional impairment. Each arranged their own ibogaine treatment at a clinic in Mexico.
In addition to ibogaine, the veterans also took magnesium during treatment to prevent potential heart complications associated with the drug. Researchers assessed participants' levels of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and overall functioning before treatment. These ratings are based on self-report questionnaires and clinical assessments.
The veterans then went to a clinic in Mexico run by Ambio Life Sciences, where they took ibogaine and magnesium orally. After treatment, they returned to the United States for post-treatment evaluation.
“These men were incredibly intelligent and high-achieving individuals who experienced life-altering impairments from traumatic brain injuries in combat,” Williams said. “They were all willing to try anything they thought would help them get their lives back.”
At the beginning of the study, participants exhibited clinically significant levels of disability as measured by the World Health Organization Disability Rating Scale 2.0. In addition, 23 met criteria for PTSD, 14 for anxiety disorders, and 15 for alcohol use disorder. Nineteen participants had previously experienced suicidal thoughts, and seven had attempted suicide.
On average, ibogaine treatment significantly improved functioning, PTSD, depression, and anxiety across the group. As observed in the study's conclusion, these positive effects persisted for at least 1 month after treatment. The average disability rating of veterans before treatment was 30.2, indicating mild to moderate disability. After one month of treatment, this rating had dropped dramatically to his 5.1, suggesting no disability.
Additionally, participants experienced a significant reduction in symptoms one month after treatment. Compared to pre-treatment levels, PTSD symptoms decreased by an average of 88 percent, depression symptoms by 87 percent, and anxiety symptoms by 81 percent. Formal cognitive testing also showed improvements in participants' concentration, information processing, memory, and impulsivity.
“I didn't want to admit that I was dealing with the issue of traumatic brain injury. I thought I rang the bell a few times, but I forgot my wife's name until that day,” said the man from Colorado. said study participant Craig, 52, who served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years. “Since [ibogaine treatment], my cognitive function has fully recovered. As a result, I have made progress at work and my ability to talk to my children and wife has improved significantly. ”
“Before treatment, I was living in a blizzard with zero visibility, feeling cold, hopeless, and sluggish,” said the 51-year-old Army veteran from Arizona, who served six combat deployments, and who uses ibogaine. added Sean, who he believes saved him. his life. “After Ibogaine, the storm subsided.”
The research team did not record any serious side effects during treatment, and there were no cases of heart disease associated with ibogaine. During treatment, the veterans reported only typical symptoms such as headaches and nausea.
“No other drug can reduce the functional and neuropsychiatric symptoms of traumatic brain injury,” says Dr. Williams. “The results are dramatic and we intend to study this compound further.”
Williams and his team plan to present further analysis of additional data collected on veterans but not included in the current study, including how ibogaine led to improved cognitive performance. It also includes brain scans that may help reveal why. They also hope to initiate future studies to further understand how the drug could be used to treat traumatic brain injury.
“In addition to treating traumatic brain injury, I think this has the potential to emerge as a broader neurorehabilitation drug,” Williams concludes. “This targets different brain regions and I think it will help us better understand how to treat other forms of PTSD, anxiety and depression that aren't necessarily related to traumatic brain injury.”
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Southwest News Service writer James Gamble contributed to this report.
