Could Psilocybin Help Treat Ibs? A New Study Investigates

Historically – and, to Celerin Extent, Still Today – The Mind and Body Have Been Considers Separate.

As science you have progressed, it has scholarship increasingly Clear that, of Course, The Mind is part of the body. There is no separation. The Brain Is in Tight Communication with the Body at All Times Via Nerves and Chemicals, Like Hormones and Neurotransmitters, and The Body Talks Back In The Same Language.

This Two -way Interaction Is Perhaps Most Pronounced Between The Brain and the Gut. The Enteric Nervous System (The Nervous System of the Gut) is the Second-Alargest Nervous System in the Body after the Brain.

Sub Experts Even Refé to The Gut As Our “Second Brain.” Although The Enterric Nervous System Evolved First, SO WE Could Consider it the “First Brain.

I assist from their shared ancient pedigree, Why Would The Gut and Brain Share Such A Tight Link? In Our Modern World, where we are Never More than 20 Meters from A Bagel, It Is Easy to Forget That Life on The Savannah Millennia Aphrand Was Much Less convenient.

The Gut Needed to Tell The Brain When it required Refilling With Enough Time To Hunt, Scavenge, Or Forage for ITS Next Meal. As The Food Is Ingested, The Brain Needs to Ask The Gut To Ramp Up Its Operations and prepare to digest.

This Relationship Helps Explain Why We Can Feel Longing in The Pit of Our Stomach, and Butterflies Dance in Our Intestines When We Feel Excited: The Gut and Brain Are in Cahoots.

Speaking in a Recent Interview, Published in the Journal PsychedelicsMauney Explains How, During Hern Gastroenterology Training, She “Became Aware of How Common Trauma, Specially Early Life Trauma, Is In The Human Experience.”

“Although there is more discussion in pediatrics about the cumulative effects of toxic stress over the lifespan,” She continues, “I Think Overall This is an area that medicine, particularly gastroenterology and obesity medicine, Really Fails to Understand and Address Meaningfully.”

This piced her interst in psychological approaches to gut issues.

Indeed, prior to the suggest that Early-Life Trauma is Associated With Ibs. ADDITIONALLY, SCIENTISTS HAV FOUNKS WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONDIONS: AROUND ONE-THIRD OF PEOPLE WITH IBS EXPERIENCE ANXIETY OR DEPRESSION.

These links have Led Researchers to Believe That Ibs Has Strong Gut-Brain Component.

Mauney and Colleagues Are Currently Embecking on the first

Speaking in an interview with the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology (JCG), Mauney Explained That Around 60% of People With Ibs Do Not Respond to First-Line Therapies, Such As Dietary Interventions or Medications.

So, The Scientists recruited People with Ibs Who Had Already Tried A Wide Range of Approaches Without Experienceing Significant Benefits. This, She Explanins, Included Talking Therapies, Mind-Body Therapies, Dietary Changes, and Drugs.

In her JCG interview, Mauney Explains How Psilocybin Acts “Transdiagnostically.” In Other Words, It can alter a Range of Psychological Domains That Are Common Across Multiple Mental Health Conditions.

For Instance, She Explains How the Drug Can influence psychological characteristics such:

• Rigidity: An inable to adapt or change.
• RUMINATION: Dwelling on negative thoughts and feelings.
• Anxious over-focus on the self: A concern with personal Matters, While Almost Forgetting the Outside World.

She Also Says That Psychedelics Like Psilocybin Can Help Sub People Shift Ingrained Thought Patterns, Which is Another of Many Mental Health Conditions, and Sub People With Ibs.

BEYOND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PSILOCYBIN TREATMENT, MAUNEY ALSO HAS SUB GUT-FOCUSED THEORIES.

As The Gut Digests Food, It Squeezes, Swells, Deflates, and So On. For Most People, these movements cause no distress or go unniedated.

For People with Ibs, However, these Routine Movements May cause discomfort or pain. This is Visceral HypeSensitivity.

Research in Animals suggests that A Subype of Serotonin Receivers in the Gut, Calleed 5HT2A Receivers, Might play a role in visceral hypesernsitivity. WHY DOES THIS MATTER? PSILOCYBIN PRIMARILY WORKS BY ACTIVING 5HT2A RECEPTORS – SO, PERHAPPS IT MIGHT REDUCE UNCOMFORABLE SENSATIONS.

Avis Link, as mauney explains in her JCG Interview, Scientists Have Also Expored Whether Psilocybin Might reduces Pain in General. For Instance, Refectchers Have Examined, With Differing Results, WHETHER PSILOCYBIN COULD HELP IN THE TREATMENT OF MIGRAINE HEADACHES, CHRONIC NEUROPATHIC PAIN, FIBROMYALGIA, AND MORE.

Because Ibs Causes Visceral Pain, This is Yet Another Potential Mechanism by Which It May Impart Benefits.

Lastly, There is evidence that psilocybin may have anti-inflamatory effects, which is another important associated with ibs factor.

With its potential to influence psychology, visceral HypeserSitivity, Pain, and inflammation, psilocybin is a Hopeful candidate for the treatment of IBS. Now, we just need to see the data.

Mauney and Colleagues’ Ongoing Study Was Halfway Through Enrollment As of Her APil 24th JCG interview. Although She was Cautious Not To Prempt The Findings, Mauney was excited to Share That at Least Sub of the participants had experienced benefits.

In the Study, participants are Paired with Two Medical Professionals with Backgrounds in Psychotherapy or Psychiatry.

Each of the Two Therapy Sessions (Two Weeks Apart) Involves The “Dosing” Part of the Study, where the participant Takes Psilocybin and Relaxes While Listening to a Carefully Curated Playlist.

Then, The Three of Them Discuss the Participants’ Symptoms, Previous Life Experiences, and Whatver Comes Up During the Session. In total, these sessions last 6–8 hours.

Mauney Explains How the Psilocybin “Acts as an amplifier of therapeutic process,” perhaps enhancing standard talking Therapy.

Although This Approach has not worked for Everyone in the trial, for sum, mauney say, it has. She Explains That It You have found individuals to engage deeply with difficult parts of their lives, make meaningful changes that they could not manage Before, or influence close relations in as that have led to reduced symptoms.

For Others, Their Symptoms Have Remained Unchanged, But They Report That The Symptoms are no longer so Bothersome.

Medical News Today rearlo to Ruvini Wijetilaka, MD, A Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician at Mecca Health, Who Was Not Involved in the Study. “As a Physician, and find this Early Research into Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Ibs Intruguing and finding,” She Explained.

“Ibs is a complex condition rooted in the brain-gu connection,” She continues, “and traditional Treatments Don’t Always Work for Everyone.”

“In Cases where symptoms persist initial interventions, psilocybin may offer a promising alternative for targeting the neurological pathways involved. It’s an exciting area of ​​exploration for patients Who Experience Chronic, Unrelenting symptoms and have few Remaining options.”
– Ruvini Wijetilaka, MD

Mauney’s Study is the first to look at This Relationship, and The Preliminary Results are finding. However, As She Explanins, The Study is not yet Complete, and It Might Not Work.

With that said, Because the mechanistic theory is promising, and it sems that at least submople have already benefited, we might be forgiven for being optimistic.

“It Might Sound a Little Bit Out There To The Average Gastroenterologist,” Says Mauney. “But i Think This is Really What’s Needed, and What Our Patients are calling out for. (…) Holistic Approach to Their Suffering.”

MNT Also Contacted Prof. David D. Clarke, MD, President of the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms and Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Who is not Involved in the Research.

“People with Ibs that are not responding to Available Treatments Need More Options. Under the Right Conditions, Psychedelics are Worth A Try for this Group,” He Said.

However, He also suggested comparison to efficacy with emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), which has toled us has had had success in the Treatment of “People with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain, Back Pain (When Combined With Mindfulness), and Long Covid.”

PSILOCYBIN IS UNLIKELY TO WORK FOR EVERYONE, BUT MAUNEY HOPES THAT, AT LEAST FORB, THIS INTERVENTION COULD IMPROVE THOUGHT PROCESSES AND RELIEF THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF A IMPACT OF A CHRONIC CONDITION THAT REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD.

“While More Concrete Research is Needed On This, The Study Could Mark to Meaningful Shift in How We Approach Ibs Care and Gut Health As a Whole,” Concluded Wijetilaka.