Psychedelic drug LSD could be used as an effective method to treat alcoholism, scientists say. The use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), coupled with relapse prevention treatments, could help alcoholics steer clear of the bottle, research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggests. Teri Krebs and Pal-Orjan Johansen, who were performing research fellowships at Harvard Medical School in the US, examined a number of previous studies, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, and found that a number of clinics used LSD to treat alcoholism with some success. They said they found evidence for a clear and consistent beneficial effect of a low dose of LSD for treating alcohol dependency. They examined 536 participants, across six medical trials, and found that 59% of LSD patients had improved compared to 38% of control patients. Researchers said the positive effects of a single dose of the drug, tested by a standardised assessment of problem alcohol use, appeared to last for up to 12 months. However, they suggested the repeated use of the medication, coupled with preventative treatments, might provide more sustained results. Investigators of one trial which was examined said: "It was rather common for patients to claim significant insights into their problems, … Continue reading →

Washington, March 9 (ANI): Taking hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) could help alcoholics give up drinking, according to an analysis of studies performed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. LSD is used mainly as an entheogen, recreational drug, and as an agent in psychedelic therapy. Several decades ago, a number of clinics used LSD to treat alcoholism with some success. But until now, no research has pulled together the results of these trials to document exactly how effective LSD was. Now a new meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of the drug provides evidence for a clear and consistent beneficial effect of LSD for treating alcohol dependency. Teri Krebs and Pal-Orjan Johansen, both affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, spotted a gap in the understanding of LSD's potential for alcoholism treatment during research fellowships at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Krebs and Johansen set out to independently extract data from previous randomised, controlled clinical trials, pooling their results. They identified six eligible trials, all carried out in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These included 536 participants, the vast majority of whom were male in-patients enrolled in alcohol-focused … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2012) Several decades ago, a number of clinics used LSD to treat alcoholism with some success. But until now, no research has pulled together the results of these trials to document exactly how effective LSD was. Now a new meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the drug, available in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE, provides evidence for a clear and consistent beneficial effect of LSD for treating alcohol dependency. Teri Krebs and Pl-rjan Johansen are both affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway. During research fellowships at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, they spotted a gap in the understanding of lysergic acid diethylamide's (LSD's) potential for alcoholism treatment. No researcher had ever performed a quantitative meta-analysis of previous clinical trials using the drug. Krebs and Johansen set out to independently extract data from previous randomized, controlled clinical trials, pooling their results. They identified six eligible trials, all carried out in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These included 536 participants, the vast majority of whom were male in-patients enrolled in alcohol-focused treatment programs. Individuals with a history of schizophrenia or psychosis were excluded from the … Continue reading →