I can see for miles and miles.
 |
| by Alphacoder |
(June 6, 2013) Despite billions in taxpayer
dollars, pharmaceutical companies have failed spectacularly to provide any real
hope to the millions among us who suffer from Alzheimer's and other dementias. Their best efforts have not only been ineffective -- they have
also come, of course, with terrible side-effects and outrageous price
tags.
Screw them! We don't need them! Remedies that enrich and enliven the brain have been out there for thousands of years. But Big Pharma isn't interested in these liberating substances, because they can't be patented. Among other strategies in our war on Alzheimer's, we should investigate the use of MIND-EXPANDING DRUGS in order to defeat a MIND-SHRINKING DISEASE. Does this not make perfect sense?
Psychoactive substances have been focusing, augmenting, stimulating, delighting and healing the human brain since ancient times. In the U.S., as one would expect, a blend of hypocrisy and puritanism -- with a distinct totalitarian aroma -- has brutally eliminated these medicinals from our midst, and made the word "psychedelic" a total "turn off." The failure to study the value of these drugs has perpetuated the suffering of millions of people.
UPDATE March 2015: "In a massive study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, scientists at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology at Trondheim concluded that there is no link between use of LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) and mental health problems. Author and clinical psychologist Pål-Ørjan Johansen's findings negate a common perception that drugs like LSD put users directly in danger—a justification used in criminalization. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/03/a-psychedelic-revival/387193/
THE PAINTED BIRD
"There is something profoundly amazing about LSD and its effects," the New York Times reported in 2010. "Many people who consume hallucinogens gain the ability to access and relive memories and events from the past. Hallucinogens have played a starring role in the lives of writers, artists, visionaries, escapists, spiritualists, the curious and the bored for thousands of years."
Why are such assessments, shared by neuroscientists around the world, totally ignored? Our culture has remained willfully blind to a resource that could save us all immeasurable heartache if it were conscientiously applied to our Alzheimer's epidemic.
Potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and many other illnesses are being blocked by anti-drug laws, according to a June 2013 editorial review published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Lead author David Nutt, chair of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, and his colleagues argue that tight restrictions on research on illegal drugs like marijuana and “illegal highs” are hindering progress in neuroscience and deterring drug companies from pursuing important leads in major disorders affecting millions of patients. Nutt lost his job as the top advisor to the British government on drug policy in 2009 for publicizing data showing that ecstasy (MDMA) is less harmful than drinking or horseback riding.
(UPDATE MARCH 2, 2014 New York Times: Today, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
is posting online results from the first controlled trial of LSD in
more than 40 years. "The study, conducted in the office of a Swiss
psychiatrist near Bern, tested the effects of the drug as a complement
to talk therapy for 12 people nearing the end of life. Most of the subjects had terminal cancer,
and several died within a year after the trial — but not before having a
mental adventure that appeared to have eased the existential gloom of
their last days." (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/health/lsd-reconsidered-for-therapy.html?_r=0) The
new publication marks the latest in a series of baby steps by a loose
coalition of researchers and fund-raisers who are working to bring
hallucinogens back into the fold of mainstream psychiatry. Before
research was effectively banned in 1966 in the United States, doctors
tested LSD’s effect for a variety of conditions....But
in the past few years, psychiatrists in the United States and abroad —
working with state regulators as well as ethics boards — have tested
Ecstasy-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress; and other trials
with hallucinogens are in the works. “The effort is both political and scientific,” said Rick Doblin, executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies,
a foundation that has financed many of the studies. “We want to break
these substances out of the mold of the counterculture and bring them
back to the lab as part of a psychedelic renaissance.”
UPDATE June 8, 2014: Alexander Shulgin, a chemist who specialized in the creation of and experimentation with mind-altering substances, and who introduced the controversial drug popularly known as Ecstasy for potential therapeutic use,has died at 88. He created almost 200 mind-altering compounds. In his four decades of research, he was "both a rogue and a wizard, a legitimate scientist and a counterculture hero." His description of ingesting Ecstasy: "I feel absolutely clean inside, and there is nothing but pure euphoria.I have never felt so great or believed this to be possible. I am overcome by the profundity of the experience." His work has proved relevant in treating a wide range of conditions, including dementia. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us/alexander-shulgin-psychedelia-researcher-dies-at-88.html?hpw&rref=obituaries).
Shulgin shared my belief that "our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit,” he said. “We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can analyze its availability.”
'SOMEONE SHOULD BE SHOUTING THIS FROM THE ROOFTOPS'
Even vitamins and spices have a demonstrably greater impact
on the disease than the tortured chemical confabulations being put on the
market by the pharmaceutical industry, according to scientific literature. A study reported on May 20, 2013 in Business Week indicates that a simple, 30-cent daily regimen of Vitamins B12, B6 and folic acid slows the loss of gray matter from 5.2 percent per year to 0.6 percent in those with mild cognitive impairment, a common prelude to Alzheimer's. Nothing produced by Big Pharma has slowed the progression at all. UPDATE June 8, 2014: Alexander Shulgin, a chemist who specialized in the creation of and experimentation with mind-altering substances, and who introduced the controversial drug popularly known as Ecstasy for potential therapeutic use,has died at 88. He created almost 200 mind-altering compounds. In his four decades of research, he was "both a rogue and a wizard, a legitimate scientist and a counterculture hero." His description of ingesting Ecstasy: "I feel absolutely clean inside, and there is nothing but pure euphoria.I have never felt so great or believed this to be possible. I am overcome by the profundity of the experience." His work has proved relevant in treating a wide range of conditions, including dementia. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us/alexander-shulgin-psychedelia-researcher-dies-at-88.html?hpw&rref=obituaries).
Shulgin shared my belief that "our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit,” he said. “We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can analyze its availability.”
 |
| Alexander Shulgin by Anthony Pidgeon/ Redfern. |
“It’s the first and only disease-modifying treatment that’s worked,”
said A. David Smith, professor emeritus of pharmacology at Oxford
University in England and senior author of the study. “We have proved
the concept that you can modify the disease.”
The results were characterized as "staggering" by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When a guest on the "Dr. Oz Show" described the study and its implications, Dr. Oz said, "Why do we not know this? Why have we not been told? Someone should be shouting it from the rooftops." (March 2014 update: That was a year ago. No one's shouting it yet. Consider this a shout.)
 |
| by Martes Mariguano |
The same could be said for coffee, which has shown breathtaking potential for staving off dementia in healthy adults and for slowing the progression of mild cognitive impairment, according to studies cited by the New York Times on June 6, 2013. The statistical results "show the kind of effectiveness you rarely see in any pharmacological agent of any kind."
 |
| Your daily med: coffee and cinnamon. |
These are astonishing outcomes. Given the enormity of the Alzheimer's epidemic -- and the devastation it wreaks emotionally and economically -- why aren't our doctors routinely disseminating these data to us? What might happen to the epidemic of brain-ravaging diseases if we all began taking the B vitamins, coffee, cinnamon and nicotine?
 |
| A surge of swirling well-being. art by dawid michakczyk |
And hundreds of millions in tax dollars are being doled out, by 27 National Institutes of Health agencies and the National Institute on Aging, for drug research that will reap a multibillion-dollar windfall for pharmaceutical firms, whose Capitol Hill lobby is ostentatiously well-endowed. On September 18, 2013, yet another major federal grant was announced. These funds are for clinical trials of drugs developed by Big Pharma and from which Big Pharma will receive the profits (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/health/33-million-grant-for-effort-to-prevent-early-onset-alzheimers.html?hpw).
Moreover, many of these drugs are merely for behavior management, enabling nursing homes to sedate patients so thy can slash their staffs.
UPDATE March 2, 2012: Toby S. Edelman, who represents patients as a lawyer at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, said, “We could save money and provide better care if nursing homes reduced the inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs for behavior management.” The American Health Care Association says, "
“Antipsychotic drugs are expensive, costing hundreds of millions of Medicare dollars. They also increase the risk of death, falls with fractures, hospitalizations and other complications.” www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/us/psychiatric-drug-overuse-is-cited-by-federal-study.html
MEDIA IGNORE MAJOR HALLUCINOGEN-SCIENCE EVENT
Just last month, the New Mexico-based Heffter Research Institute co-sponsored the five-day Psychedelic Science 2013 conference in Oakland, Calif., along with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and the world's leading psychedelic research institutes. The Heffter Institute also supports the Heffter Research Center in Zürich, Switzerland, under the direction of Dr. Franz Vollenweider, the world’s foremost expert in clinical studies of psychedelics and related substances.
Nearly 1,900 people from around the world attended the hundreds of sessions at the Oakland Marriott.
MAPS helped fund the LSD research mentioned at the top of this post, the results of which were released March 2, 2014.
According to the New York Times: "The
new publication (in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, marks the latest in a series of baby steps by a loose
coalition of researchers and fund-raisers who are working to bring
hallucinogens back into the fold of mainstream psychiatry. Before
research was banned in 1966 in the United States, doctors tested LSD’s
effect for a variety of conditions, including end-of-life anxiety.
"But
in the past few years, psychiatrists in the United States and abroad —
working with state regulators as well as ethics boards — have tested
Ecstasy-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress; and other trials
with hallucinogens are in the works.
“ 'The effort is both political and scientific,' said Rick Doblin, executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies,
a foundation that has financed many of the studies. “We want to break
these substances out of the mold of the counterculture and bring them
back to the lab as part of a psychedelic renaissance'.”
'SO KEEP ON PLAYIN' THE MIND GUERRILLA' / JOHN LENNON
More than 100 of the world’s most respected researchers, from 13 countries, presented recent findings into the therapeutic applications of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, ibogaine, ketamine, cannabis, and others.
 |
| by Mati Klarwein |
For all intents and purposes, the vast trove of information that was presented at this gathering was CENSORED from the public.
American news media uniformly ignored this conference. A minor blog, "Boing, Boing," referred to it but did not cover it. Admirable but relatively small and narrowly focused media such as Reason, Wired and AlterNet did address some of the issues, but didn't provide coverage of the conference's many presentations. How can that be? Surely no person or government agency could have ordered the media to pretend it wasn't happening. Why did they shy away from it? I guess I am naive in believing that this is so important to medical progress.
(On June 2, a colorful and informative report about the conference appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Thanks to the Chronicle for having some class and social responsibility! http://chronicle.com/article/Psychedelic-Academe/139509/)
 |
| by Jonathan Knowlton |
As each of us confronts our own possible descent into Alzheimer's, we might keep in mind that, if we so choose, it could include one mind-blowing experience after another -- a scenario that we hope to engineer with the assistance of the world's most visionary brain theorists. Wouldn't it be ironic if we could transform our later years into the Greatest Bash of All Time, ushering in a sunny flood of flower power, "peace, love and understanding," and some incense and peppermints? I think we've earned it.
Whoa, man: It's morning already. Or was that tomorrow?
My amateur but well-researched blueprint forges mind-expanding drugs and emerging technologies into a fabulous new realm of consciousness. As our population ages, Alzheimer's may some day be regarded as a natural stage of life, like adolescence, only way more fun -- at least until we find a cure.
 |
| Are we coming or going? Is this entropy or ecstasy? |
When
logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the doormouse said;
"Feed YOUR HEAD...
Feed your head"
FLIPPING DREAD INTO PLEASANT ANTICIPATION
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the doormouse said;
"Feed YOUR HEAD...
Feed your head"
FLIPPING DREAD INTO PLEASANT ANTICIPATION
Feed it, indeed! Psychotropic drugs can be chicken soup for the brain. We can and must liberate ourselves from the Tyranny of the Uptight so we can join the vast majority of people around the world, who freely make use of these analgesics.
What better time is there to pull a rabbit out of your hat and see if you feel ten feet tall? What better time to join Lucy in the sky, with all those diamonds?
Especially at a time when drugs like "Special K" -- the horse tranquilizer and FDA-approved anesthesia that has been used for years as a popular hallucinogenic party drug -- is proving to be the most promising treatment for depression in years (if not ever). Ketamine helps restore the dysfunctional communication between nerve cells, which makes me wonder: Isn't this relevant to Alzheimer's? (Naturally, Johnson & Johnson is hoping to tweak it and make a fortune peddling it globally).
Ketamine also works on brain receptors, promotes the growth of synapses, and lets the brain heal itself. Upon further investigation, I learned that because of these associations with neuroplasticity, researchers are indeed beginning to look into the effect of ketamine on Alzheimer’s. More "illicit" drugs to the rescue!
A recent paper in the journal Adaptive Behavior reveals that paleolithic cave painters were high on hallucinogenic drugs, and that these substances inspired imagery and geometric patterns that are consistent in their work, across cultures, indicating a systematic effect on neural activity that was both enjoyable and creative.
DRUGGED PATIENTS GET NURSING HOMES HIGH ON PROFITS
Ironically, those in nursing homes are already being drugged out of their minds, but the "accepted pharmaceutical agencts" are used to save the institutions money by essentially knocking the patients out so they require less attention, which decreases staffing needs. A 2011 report by Medicare reported that opiates, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety medications were being vastly overused, costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
There is no informed consent here. These people are being quietly, relentlessly erased (and shut up) by their profiteering overlords.
What's worse is that these perfectly legal drugs trigger measurable cognitive decline, on top of what the disease is doing. They kill neurons, just as Alzheimer's does. They put you, the patient, into such a stupor that you are unable to exercise the very sizable parts of your brain that remain healthy: They sap you of energy. You can't respond to the world around you, or relate to others. You are unable to fend for youself.
The drugs make you prone to falls, so your keepers require that you remain in a wheelchair or in bed to protect themselves from liability claims. Within weeks, Alzheimer's patients who had entered a care facility with the capacity to walk around -- exploring and interacting -- cannot even stand up. Inactivity breeds weakness, physically and mentally. It is a surefire way to create depression. Deeper and deeper, our precious elders sink into catatonia. Their eyelids are getting so heavy! So are their heads! It is a living death.
Is it the disease, or is it the institution?
One thing is certain: It is a scandal.
We must agitate, humiliate and exasperate the Big Boys Who Run Everything until some monumental changes are made.
JUST SAY 'YES' -- WITH CONDITIONS
Even so, I am acutely aware of the inappropriateness of administering controversial treatments without the informed consent of patients. I am also very uncomfortable with the use of these drugs in patients whose disease is advanced, until and unless we can determine -- by fMRI imaging perhaps -- that "they" are still in there. If Alzheimer's has thoroughly taken over and destroyed their minds and erased their selves, of course we should not be using them as living cadavers for research purposes.
For the time being, I believe we must develop a standardized form that will enable those of us who are currently of sound mind to authorize such "mind expanding" therapies if and when we develop dementia. It should be part of our Health Care Directives and living wills.
In the meantime, it seems reasonable for those who have early-stage Alzheimer's and are still qualified to make decisions regarding their own welfare -- and there are nearly two million of them -- to be allowed to make decisions that could add years of relative comfort, clarity and joy to their lives by ingesting mind-altering drugs. Those who hold medical powers of attorney over people who are more severely impaired, but are still "there" to a significant degree, should also be allowed to authorize the administration of such substances under qualified supervision (until it becomes clear that the medicinals are enjoyable and cause no distresss).
After all, those who have Alzheimer's didn't give their consent to be virtually erased from Earthly existence with the opiates and barbituates they're currently being fed by the spoonful. If they could just smoke a joint instead, they might actually have a pleasant morning. And they wouldn't get constipated!
OPEN UP YOUR MIND, AND DAMN: YOU'RE FREE
There is clear and compelling evidence that mind-altering drugs have the potential to treat the many dementias, including Alzheimer's, and that they can also provide stimulation, pleasure and comfort to those who are suffering. Many of these substances -- most of which are plant-based -- have been used for thousands of years in celebratory, ritual and spiritual realms. Some have been as much a part of daily life as our caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
I believe there are thousands of people around the country who would be perfectly happy to flout the law and experiment with these "illicit" substances, out of personal interest and to benefit mankind.
So I'm supporting the few scientists who have the courage to mount a forceful campaign to make research into these medicinals not only legal but also well-funded. The NIH alone is handing out $500 million a year in Alzheimer's research funds to pharmaceutical companies (who of course hope to make billions if they ever figure this whole thing out). Other agencies are also heaping funds on these global conglomerates.
Even the most awesome drugs will unlikely be adequate to provide optimal results in our efforts to harness Alzheimer's. We must urge government at the highest level to coordinate the development of groundbreaking technologies that can upload and download memories, revive buried memories, and enrapture us in virtual realities that will beat back Alzheimer's with their neuronal excitations. The research that is currently being performed in these areas has not gotten the support it needs, but it is truly exhilarating, as we will describe in our next post.
What better time is there to pull a rabbit out of your hat and see if you feel ten feet tall? What better time to join Lucy in the sky, with all those diamonds?
Especially at a time when drugs like "Special K" -- the horse tranquilizer and FDA-approved anesthesia that has been used for years as a popular hallucinogenic party drug -- is proving to be the most promising treatment for depression in years (if not ever). Ketamine helps restore the dysfunctional communication between nerve cells, which makes me wonder: Isn't this relevant to Alzheimer's? (Naturally, Johnson & Johnson is hoping to tweak it and make a fortune peddling it globally).
Ketamine also works on brain receptors, promotes the growth of synapses, and lets the brain heal itself. Upon further investigation, I learned that because of these associations with neuroplasticity, researchers are indeed beginning to look into the effect of ketamine on Alzheimer’s. More "illicit" drugs to the rescue!
A recent paper in the journal Adaptive Behavior reveals that paleolithic cave painters were high on hallucinogenic drugs, and that these substances inspired imagery and geometric patterns that are consistent in their work, across cultures, indicating a systematic effect on neural activity that was both enjoyable and creative.
DRUGGED PATIENTS GET NURSING HOMES HIGH ON PROFITS
Ironically, those in nursing homes are already being drugged out of their minds, but the "accepted pharmaceutical agencts" are used to save the institutions money by essentially knocking the patients out so they require less attention, which decreases staffing needs. A 2011 report by Medicare reported that opiates, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety medications were being vastly overused, costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
There is no informed consent here. These people are being quietly, relentlessly erased (and shut up) by their profiteering overlords.
What's worse is that these perfectly legal drugs trigger measurable cognitive decline, on top of what the disease is doing. They kill neurons, just as Alzheimer's does. They put you, the patient, into such a stupor that you are unable to exercise the very sizable parts of your brain that remain healthy: They sap you of energy. You can't respond to the world around you, or relate to others. You are unable to fend for youself.
The drugs make you prone to falls, so your keepers require that you remain in a wheelchair or in bed to protect themselves from liability claims. Within weeks, Alzheimer's patients who had entered a care facility with the capacity to walk around -- exploring and interacting -- cannot even stand up. Inactivity breeds weakness, physically and mentally. It is a surefire way to create depression. Deeper and deeper, our precious elders sink into catatonia. Their eyelids are getting so heavy! So are their heads! It is a living death.
Is it the disease, or is it the institution?
One thing is certain: It is a scandal.
We must agitate, humiliate and exasperate the Big Boys Who Run Everything until some monumental changes are made.
JUST SAY 'YES' -- WITH CONDITIONS
Even so, I am acutely aware of the inappropriateness of administering controversial treatments without the informed consent of patients. I am also very uncomfortable with the use of these drugs in patients whose disease is advanced, until and unless we can determine -- by fMRI imaging perhaps -- that "they" are still in there. If Alzheimer's has thoroughly taken over and destroyed their minds and erased their selves, of course we should not be using them as living cadavers for research purposes.
For the time being, I believe we must develop a standardized form that will enable those of us who are currently of sound mind to authorize such "mind expanding" therapies if and when we develop dementia. It should be part of our Health Care Directives and living wills.
In the meantime, it seems reasonable for those who have early-stage Alzheimer's and are still qualified to make decisions regarding their own welfare -- and there are nearly two million of them -- to be allowed to make decisions that could add years of relative comfort, clarity and joy to their lives by ingesting mind-altering drugs. Those who hold medical powers of attorney over people who are more severely impaired, but are still "there" to a significant degree, should also be allowed to authorize the administration of such substances under qualified supervision (until it becomes clear that the medicinals are enjoyable and cause no distresss).
After all, those who have Alzheimer's didn't give their consent to be virtually erased from Earthly existence with the opiates and barbituates they're currently being fed by the spoonful. If they could just smoke a joint instead, they might actually have a pleasant morning. And they wouldn't get constipated!
OPEN UP YOUR MIND, AND DAMN: YOU'RE FREE
There is clear and compelling evidence that mind-altering drugs have the potential to treat the many dementias, including Alzheimer's, and that they can also provide stimulation, pleasure and comfort to those who are suffering. Many of these substances -- most of which are plant-based -- have been used for thousands of years in celebratory, ritual and spiritual realms. Some have been as much a part of daily life as our caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
I believe there are thousands of people around the country who would be perfectly happy to flout the law and experiment with these "illicit" substances, out of personal interest and to benefit mankind.
Even the most awesome drugs will unlikely be adequate to provide optimal results in our efforts to harness Alzheimer's. We must urge government at the highest level to coordinate the development of groundbreaking technologies that can upload and download memories, revive buried memories, and enrapture us in virtual realities that will beat back Alzheimer's with their neuronal excitations. The research that is currently being performed in these areas has not gotten the support it needs, but it is truly exhilarating, as we will describe in our next post.
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY
Wikipedia offers excellent summaries of "taboo" substances -- virtually all of them found in nature and many with an ancient heritage -- that are inherently interesting, but also strikingly relevant to addressing the Alzheimer's-ravaged mind. I will quote extensively from this material.
 |
| You've come a long way, baby: Out of the very distant past. |
 |
| "Transcendence" by VUCETIC Ivo |
I am determined to blast open the pathetically small (and small-minded) (and profit-obsessed) armamentarium of weapons against Alzheimer's to include substances such as entheogens and other banned chemicals. How cruel and criminal that this work didn't begin long ago.
Dozens of other substances that are characterized as psychedelic (thus forbidden, for being too much fun), are also described by Wikipedia:
"The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as trance, meditation, yoga, religious fervor, dreaming and even extremely moving and reassuring near-death experiences.....
The peace between the states. (art by desexign)
"First, sensory perceptions become especially brilliant and intense...The emotional effects are even more profound than the perceptual ones. The drug taker becomes unusually sensitive to faces, gestures, and small changes in the environment. As everything in the field of consciousness assumes unusual importance, feelings become magnified....In some cases the culmination is a mystical ecstasy in which for an eternal moment all contradictions seem reconciled, all questions answered, all wants irrelevant or satisfied, all existence encompassed by an experience that is felt to define the ultimate reality, boundless, timeless, and ineffable....."
Doesn't this sound worthwhile as an antidote to Alzheimer's, among other things?
GRAND THEFT AUTONOMIC
And does it not sound like an excellent adventure?
There are also the "nootropic" drugs, which have shown great promise in treating memory-related disorders.
Once again quoting Wikipedia: "Nootropics, also referred to as smart drugs, memory enhancers, neuro enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers, are drugs, supplements, nutraceuticals, and functional foods that purportedly improve mental functions such as cognition, memory, intelligence, motivation, attention, and concentration."
 |
| Bringing a golden glow back to darkened, harrowed minds. |
 |
| Opening the mind -- what's wrong with that? / by *kram666 |
WE WILL (WE WILL) ROCK YOU
European journals describe ways in which such substances can "open up the mind," and "bring light into darkened and damaged areas." Our health-care system is perfectly content to "tip-toe through the tulips," blithely standing by while the brains of its patients become ever darker and more damaged.
 |
| Tiptoe. |
THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST
Certain classes of drugs denoted as psychedelic seem particularly interesting as possible treatments for Alzheimer's.
The effect of empathogen-entactogens, Wikipedia says, is "characterized by feelings of openness, euphoria, empathy, love, and heightened self-awareness." Wikipedia lists 20 of these substances, which include MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy. Although Ecstasy is widely known as a "club drug," and can be dangerous if irresponsibly dosed, it has shown promise as an adjunct to psychotherapy.
 |
| In controlled settings, Ecstasy has been effective in treating anxiety disorders. |
Also according to Wikipedia, a clinical study of rats at the University of Saskatchewan in 2005, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, showed regeneration of nerve cells in the hippocampus (the brain's memory center) following the administration of cannabis. Studies have shown that a synthetic drug resembling THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, provides some protection against brain inflammation, which might result in better memory at an older age.
But marijuana is evil, right?
 |
| EVIL! |
Doctors hope further studies of salvia will unlock treatments for a variety of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and illnesses that cause chronic pain.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital concluded in 2011 that salvia may indeed "brighten" the brains of those with Alzheimer's.
How can we continue to suppress evidence such as this while people are suffering so profoundly?
 |
| I kind of look forward to riding bareback through new worlds. |
It seems reasonable to assume that psychedelic drugs in general should be studied to see if they can expand, enliven, comfort, entertain and/or help preserve the cognitive function of Alzheimer's patients.
As a class, these drugs enable a state of "unconstrained cognition," according to scientists in the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit at Imperial College London.
 |
| "And she's climbing a stairway to heaven." (Led Zeppelin) |
A NEW WORLD SYMPHONY
Here's another good example: As part of a study at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, psilocybin (a "psychedelic" mushroom) was given to emotionally stable individuals who had never taken hallucinogens before. More than a year later, two thirds of the subjects, ages 24 to 64, said the experience was one of the most meaningful and spiritual experiences of their entire lives. Many of them compared it to the birth of a child or the death of a parent in its emotional impact.
 |
| PET scan shows brain regions affected by psilocybin. |
Psilocybin can stimulate and protect areas of the brain that might otherwise be succumbing to Alzheimers, the researchers said.
AND WE'LL LIVE BENEATH THE WAVES IN OUR YELLOW SUBMARINE
We have allowed so many of our dear ones with Alzheimer's to deteriorate to a state of paranoia, aversion and catatonia, even though it was widely known that these dozens of nonconventional treatments offered tremendous promise. It is unforgivable. I am determined to bring these people back, to whatever degree is possible, and I hope to help provide them with the substances that will return to them some measure of peace and clarity BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. Get ready, all you DEA storm troopers. We can't sit by and let this insane repression continue.
We could become liberators, even if we have to create a new Underground Railroad to sneak these helpless people past the DEA goons and into one of our top-secret castles, which will be fabulous retreats, filled with federally prohibited love and stimulation, sunlight and companionship.
Normal brain chemistry is based on chemicals. If we are unable to reason with the Establishment about the medical and moral validity of treating dysfunctional brain chemistry (dementia) with therapeutic chemicals, which directly address the dysfunction, then we will simply have to break the law, preferably on a grand scale.
It may turn into quite a war. If it does, it will be the first "good war" we've had in quite some time.
HUNGERING FOR A CHANGE OF SCENERY
I personally look forward to seeing things I've never seen before, with a depth, significance and vitality I've never imagined. I can foresee hours, days, weeks of immersion in a succession of entirely new worlds, in which we will be treated to exquisite sensory escapades that engorge our brains with a fullness that no stupid disease can kill!
I fantasize about having all those millions of ghostly, wracked, forgotten Alzheimer's patients to come along. Their eyes will finally open again, and the sun will rise in there. We need to save those people. They are still people, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
DAY TRIPPER
Along with my wild-haired, paisley-clad posse of the so-called "cognitively impaired" I will perhaps pop a little pill -- or snort, or puff, or shoot up, or whatever -- and fly through the cosmos, passing scenes of inexpressible beauty. We will be "Space Oddities," a la David Bowie ("Ground control to Master Tom"), reveling in the blueness of Planet Earth and the technicolor dreamworld beyond.
We will be washed over with endless varieties of ecstasy, explosive excitement and comforting reassurance. I have never been the slightest bit spiritual, but I expects that I will at last be enticed into that realm, with its infinite beauty and wisdom.
When we are feeling more secular, we can haul out our high-tech tools (to be described in the next post), and then close our eyes and be drawn into delightful getaways: adventures in thrilling exploration and luxury vacation, adventures in gluttonous dining and boozing, without fear of calories or hangovers, adventures in Xtreme sports (we'll finally get to surf the Big One, leap off Kilimanjaro to glide through
the canyons, take a curve with Danica at 400 mph), adventures in
celebrity (we can star in any book or movie we please), and so much more.
THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR IS COMING TO TAKE YOU AWAY
Whoa, man, is it true that I am finally going to do drugs? I've always been too damn scared, but before long, Alzheimer's will chivalrously open the door for me, and make it seem quite worthwhile.
There are only four extremely expensive FDA-approved drugs to treat AD, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and all they can do (at best) is improve or delay the worsening of symptoms for an average of 6-12 months.
It sounds pretty pointless and fiscally irresponsible. It sounds unimaginative and thoroughly tight-assed. Big Pharma needs to get some freaks and geeks in there to mix things up and stimulate some creative thinking.
If you've been scared to experiment with these intriguing substances in the past, doesn't Alzheimer's provide the perfect rationale? What do you have to lose? Alzheimer's is already altering that mind of yours in a cruel and twisted way. Why not thwart its creepy machinations with some nights in white satin? Let's all take one toke over the line, sweet Jesus, and go for a magic carpet ride.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: AN OVERVIEW OF U.S. DRUG HISTORY
Now that science is getting really, really desperate to address this looming tsunami of drooling, cursing, poop-throwing Alzheimer's sufferers, they're finally dusting off all that old drug paraphernalia, like they should have to begin with.
You are probably too old or too young to remember those glorious years when the consciousnesss-expanding potential of various substances -- herbal, fungal, botanical and synthetic -- was becoming known within popular culture. In those days, it was not surprising for a lovely waif with flowers in her hair to approach you and remark, "I had too much to dream last night. I can see for miles! I am the walrus!"
Our moralistic, corporate culture -- which so loves its booze, and its uppers and downers (thoughtfully synthesized and profitized by Big Pharma) -- criminalized not only mind-expanding drugs but also legitimate, university-based scientific research into their potential to treat depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD and many other conditions.
The Big Panic began with the widely publicized studies of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) at Harvard by Professor of Psychology Timothy Leary, who fervently believed the chemical had great potential for use in psychiatry. His radical lifestyle and "turn on, tune in, drop out" attitude had President Richard Nixon calling him "the most dangerous man in America." In 1970, Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act, which grouped the psychedelics and marijuana with heroin as drugs that had no medical value and had a high potential for abuse.
PURPLE HAZE
Leary, his lifestyle and his philosophies freaked out The Establishment. It was clear that LSD has the potential for negative outcomes, as does pretty much any drug, and "bad trips" were wildly sensationalized in the media. Even though LSD showed great promise as a therapeutic agent when it was introduced by Sandoz Laboratories in 1947, the recreational use of the drug during the 1960s led to its iron-fisted prohibition. Sandoz had found that the drug produced synergistic excitation in the cerebral cortex, affecting serotonin, glutamate and dopamine, long before pharmaceutical companies began marketing antidepressants that did the same thing.
For the next thirty-five years research with hallucinogens assumed pariah status within academic psychiatry, virtually putting an end to formal dialogue and debate, according to Charles S. Grob, M.D., professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine.
LSD and its close cousin lysergic acid have been under lock and key
for decades, strictly regulated by both
federal and state laws.
"There's real agents in suits with guns and when we get it, we have to sign it out, and there is a two-key mechanism to open the cabinet that has the lysergic acid. They don't mess around," Harvard Medical School graduate Edwin Jake Wintermute told NPR station WGBH in 2011. New drugs could come from an LSD-related compound — drugs that open up the brain, improving circulation in the brain and enhancing clarity, he said.
But there continue to be seemingly endless bureaucratic hurdles that deter this vital research -- one layer of scrutiny and skepticism after another. "It takes years to get all the approvals," as Grob says. Both ongoing prejudice against hallucinogens and the machinations of Big Pharma thwart progress.
Fortunately, according to The Economist, things are much more free in Zurich, where Franz Vollenweider, of the Heffter Research Institute is scanning people's brains to try to understand how hallucinogenic drugs cause changes in consciousness.
And biotechnology may lead to a new generation of hallucinogenic drugs. Wintermute and his colleagues at Harvard have engineered yeast cells to carry out two of six steps in the pathway needed to make lysergic acid, the precursor of LSD. They hope to add the other four shortly. Once the pathway has been created, it can be tweaked. That might result in LSD-like drugs that are better than the original.
INSTANT KARMA
Even if that does not happen, making lysergic acid in yeast is still a good idea, The Economist reports. The chemical is used as the starting point for other drugs, including nicergoline, a treatment for senile dementia. The current process for manufacturing it is a rather messy one involving ergot, a parasite of rye.
MAPS founder and executive director, Rick
Doblin, has spent 20 years wrangling with America's blindly
anti-psychedelic drug apparatus to gain approval for responsible
testing.
The nonprofit is trying to get drugs like psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA approved for medical use. It has already sponsored small clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, first in survivors of sexual abuse and assault, and now in military veterans, police, and firefighters. It is working directly with the Pentagon.
MAPS is undertaking a 10-year, $15 million plan to make MDMA into an FDA-approved prescription medicine, and is currently the only organization in the world funding clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
MDMA, of course, is more commonly known as Ecstasy. Wouldn't it be cool if we could bring ecstasy to Alzheimer's? And all of the other radiance that can be had from other "banned" drugs?
A NOT-SURPRISING POSTSCRIPT: In mid-June, Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) terminated a mid-stage clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's disease drug, according to the Wall Street Journal. "The halted study is the latest in a series of Alzheimer's research setbacks for Lilly. In 2010, Lilly stopped development of a different kind of Alzheimer's drug, semagacestat, after studies showed it worsened patients' conditions and was associated with an increased risk of skin cancer," the Journal reported.
"Last year, Lilly said another drug, solanezumab, didn't meet goals for improving cognition and function in two late-stage studies of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Lilly hasn't given up hope on that drug, however, citing an analysis suggesting the drug helped slow cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer's.
Other companies have experienced setbacks in developing new Alzheimer's therapies, including Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Baxter International Inc. (BAX). Merck & Co. (MRK) is developing its own BACE inhibitor, MK-8931. The company started a study of the drug last year, and it's expected to run until 2017," the Journal added.
OBVIOUSLY, we need to look elsewhere for effective and affordable therapies. Maybe the good lord put what we need right here in front of us, as centuries of elegant curatives have suggested.
COMING NEXT: We bring together the many pertinent breakthroughs in neuroscience, technology (artificial intelligence, virtual reality, etc.), and experiential/interpersonal strategies to transform the world of Alzheimer's.The findings have been so profound, the treatments so effective, we demand to know why scientists expect "many years" of trials and regulatory review before we can have access to them. We want them now!
AND WE'LL LIVE BENEATH THE WAVES IN OUR YELLOW SUBMARINE
We have allowed so many of our dear ones with Alzheimer's to deteriorate to a state of paranoia, aversion and catatonia, even though it was widely known that these dozens of nonconventional treatments offered tremendous promise. It is unforgivable. I am determined to bring these people back, to whatever degree is possible, and I hope to help provide them with the substances that will return to them some measure of peace and clarity BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. Get ready, all you DEA storm troopers. We can't sit by and let this insane repression continue.
We could become liberators, even if we have to create a new Underground Railroad to sneak these helpless people past the DEA goons and into one of our top-secret castles, which will be fabulous retreats, filled with federally prohibited love and stimulation, sunlight and companionship.
 |
| Kronstantinople would be an excellent Alzheimer's retreat. |
It may turn into quite a war. If it does, it will be the first "good war" we've had in quite some time.
HUNGERING FOR A CHANGE OF SCENERY
I personally look forward to seeing things I've never seen before, with a depth, significance and vitality I've never imagined. I can foresee hours, days, weeks of immersion in a succession of entirely new worlds, in which we will be treated to exquisite sensory escapades that engorge our brains with a fullness that no stupid disease can kill!
I fantasize about having all those millions of ghostly, wracked, forgotten Alzheimer's patients to come along. Their eyes will finally open again, and the sun will rise in there. We need to save those people. They are still people, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
DAY TRIPPER
Along with my wild-haired, paisley-clad posse of the so-called "cognitively impaired" I will perhaps pop a little pill -- or snort, or puff, or shoot up, or whatever -- and fly through the cosmos, passing scenes of inexpressible beauty. We will be "Space Oddities," a la David Bowie ("Ground control to Master Tom"), reveling in the blueness of Planet Earth and the technicolor dreamworld beyond.
 |
| The monumental Carina Nebula will help their brains whack all that plaque. |
 |
| The brain feels rinsed and rhapsodic! Art by Storm Thurgerson, RIP. |
 |
| Or, we could fly through Dubai. (Klassieker) |
Whoa, man, is it true that I am finally going to do drugs? I've always been too damn scared, but before long, Alzheimer's will chivalrously open the door for me, and make it seem quite worthwhile.
There are only four extremely expensive FDA-approved drugs to treat AD, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and all they can do (at best) is improve or delay the worsening of symptoms for an average of 6-12 months.
It sounds pretty pointless and fiscally irresponsible. It sounds unimaginative and thoroughly tight-assed. Big Pharma needs to get some freaks and geeks in there to mix things up and stimulate some creative thinking.
If you've been scared to experiment with these intriguing substances in the past, doesn't Alzheimer's provide the perfect rationale? What do you have to lose? Alzheimer's is already altering that mind of yours in a cruel and twisted way. Why not thwart its creepy machinations with some nights in white satin? Let's all take one toke over the line, sweet Jesus, and go for a magic carpet ride.
 |
| It's a good time to take a twirl through a less-elderly mode of perception. |
BACK TO THE FUTURE: AN OVERVIEW OF U.S. DRUG HISTORY
Now that science is getting really, really desperate to address this looming tsunami of drooling, cursing, poop-throwing Alzheimer's sufferers, they're finally dusting off all that old drug paraphernalia, like they should have to begin with.
You are probably too old or too young to remember those glorious years when the consciousnesss-expanding potential of various substances -- herbal, fungal, botanical and synthetic -- was becoming known within popular culture. In those days, it was not surprising for a lovely waif with flowers in her hair to approach you and remark, "I had too much to dream last night. I can see for miles! I am the walrus!"
 |
| "Soul Purpose" by Krystleyez |
The Big Panic began with the widely publicized studies of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) at Harvard by Professor of Psychology Timothy Leary, who fervently believed the chemical had great potential for use in psychiatry. His radical lifestyle and "turn on, tune in, drop out" attitude had President Richard Nixon calling him "the most dangerous man in America." In 1970, Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act, which grouped the psychedelics and marijuana with heroin as drugs that had no medical value and had a high potential for abuse.
 |
| A high potential for serenity and self knowledge. by Nick Hyde |
Leary, his lifestyle and his philosophies freaked out The Establishment. It was clear that LSD has the potential for negative outcomes, as does pretty much any drug, and "bad trips" were wildly sensationalized in the media. Even though LSD showed great promise as a therapeutic agent when it was introduced by Sandoz Laboratories in 1947, the recreational use of the drug during the 1960s led to its iron-fisted prohibition. Sandoz had found that the drug produced synergistic excitation in the cerebral cortex, affecting serotonin, glutamate and dopamine, long before pharmaceutical companies began marketing antidepressants that did the same thing.
For the next thirty-five years research with hallucinogens assumed pariah status within academic psychiatry, virtually putting an end to formal dialogue and debate, according to Charles S. Grob, M.D., professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine.
 |
| "Flouricide" by keepstillkeepquiet |
And not much has changed, although a few dedicated scientists are carefully, patiently forging a movement to smash these restrictions (frankly, I think we should be less patient -- people are suffering deeply! -- but perhaps they are wise to believe this would be counterproductive).
Grob was one of the first researchers to get FDA approval to conduct a research study on the therapeutic effects of psychedelics since research had slowed to a halt. He showed that psilocybin could safely relieve end-of-life anxieties, according to the April 2013 issue of PopSci.
Grob was one of the first researchers to get FDA approval to conduct a research study on the therapeutic effects of psychedelics since research had slowed to a halt. He showed that psilocybin could safely relieve end-of-life anxieties, according to the April 2013 issue of PopSci.
"There's real agents in suits with guns and when we get it, we have to sign it out, and there is a two-key mechanism to open the cabinet that has the lysergic acid. They don't mess around," Harvard Medical School graduate Edwin Jake Wintermute told NPR station WGBH in 2011. New drugs could come from an LSD-related compound — drugs that open up the brain, improving circulation in the brain and enhancing clarity, he said.
 |
| by Martina Hoffman |
But there continue to be seemingly endless bureaucratic hurdles that deter this vital research -- one layer of scrutiny and skepticism after another. "It takes years to get all the approvals," as Grob says. Both ongoing prejudice against hallucinogens and the machinations of Big Pharma thwart progress.
Fortunately, according to The Economist, things are much more free in Zurich, where Franz Vollenweider, of the Heffter Research Institute is scanning people's brains to try to understand how hallucinogenic drugs cause changes in consciousness.
And biotechnology may lead to a new generation of hallucinogenic drugs. Wintermute and his colleagues at Harvard have engineered yeast cells to carry out two of six steps in the pathway needed to make lysergic acid, the precursor of LSD. They hope to add the other four shortly. Once the pathway has been created, it can be tweaked. That might result in LSD-like drugs that are better than the original.
INSTANT KARMA
Even if that does not happen, making lysergic acid in yeast is still a good idea, The Economist reports. The chemical is used as the starting point for other drugs, including nicergoline, a treatment for senile dementia. The current process for manufacturing it is a rather messy one involving ergot, a parasite of rye.
 |
| We have so much to discover! by samurai |
The nonprofit is trying to get drugs like psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA approved for medical use. It has already sponsored small clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, first in survivors of sexual abuse and assault, and now in military veterans, police, and firefighters. It is working directly with the Pentagon.
MAPS is undertaking a 10-year, $15 million plan to make MDMA into an FDA-approved prescription medicine, and is currently the only organization in the world funding clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
MDMA, of course, is more commonly known as Ecstasy. Wouldn't it be cool if we could bring ecstasy to Alzheimer's? And all of the other radiance that can be had from other "banned" drugs?
A NOT-SURPRISING POSTSCRIPT: In mid-June, Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) terminated a mid-stage clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's disease drug, according to the Wall Street Journal. "The halted study is the latest in a series of Alzheimer's research setbacks for Lilly. In 2010, Lilly stopped development of a different kind of Alzheimer's drug, semagacestat, after studies showed it worsened patients' conditions and was associated with an increased risk of skin cancer," the Journal reported.
"Last year, Lilly said another drug, solanezumab, didn't meet goals for improving cognition and function in two late-stage studies of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Lilly hasn't given up hope on that drug, however, citing an analysis suggesting the drug helped slow cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer's.
Other companies have experienced setbacks in developing new Alzheimer's therapies, including Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Baxter International Inc. (BAX). Merck & Co. (MRK) is developing its own BACE inhibitor, MK-8931. The company started a study of the drug last year, and it's expected to run until 2017," the Journal added.
OBVIOUSLY, we need to look elsewhere for effective and affordable therapies. Maybe the good lord put what we need right here in front of us, as centuries of elegant curatives have suggested.
COMING NEXT: We bring together the many pertinent breakthroughs in neuroscience, technology (artificial intelligence, virtual reality, etc.), and experiential/interpersonal strategies to transform the world of Alzheimer's.The findings have been so profound, the treatments so effective, we demand to know why scientists expect "many years" of trials and regulatory review before we can have access to them. We want them now!
