Chronic pain is one of the most prolific causes of disability on the planet, forcing millions of people worldwide to deal with debilitating pain on a daily basis and costing the global economy billions of dollars. Although the condition occurs due to a variety of reasons, the similarity among all people with chronic and neuropathic pain is that it causes significant physical and mental suffering, as well as stress and insomnia that exacerbate the risk of developing depression.
The physical limitations neuropathic pain places on patients can also prevent people from taking part in day-to-day activities and favorite hobbies, reducing their quality of life and increasing their depression risk.
Researchers are now looking into the possibility of treating both neuropathic pain and depression with psilocybin, the main psychoactive agent in magic mushrooms. Prior studies have already shown that psychedelics such as psilocybin can deliver long-term relief against mental disorders, including depression and anxiety. Unfortunately, depression tends to be associated with chronic pain, which can be quite hard to treat and often leaves patients addicted to pharmaceutical opioids.
Ahmad Hammo, a third-year bioengineering student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science, is running a pilot study exploring magic mushrooms’ potential as a treatment for both depression and chronic pain. Hammo explains that the “strong correlation” between the two conditions piqued his interest in whether psychedelics could potentially treat both chronic pain and depression simultaneously.
Current treatments for both depression and chronic pain aren’t effective for many patients and they are often associated with side effects. However, the recent surge in psychedelic research revealed that hallucinogenics such as psilocybin and LSD can alleviate the symptoms of both depression and chronic neuropathic pain.
However, the findings on chronic pain and depression come from studies that looked at the effect of psychedelics on one condition rather than both, and research specifically looking at psychedelics as potential treatments for chronic pain is sparse. Hammo’s study will be among the first to analyze the potential benefit of using psilocybin to treat depression and chronic pain simultaneously.
The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowship will support the research under its Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring (PURM) program. Perelman School of Medicine assistant professor, neuroscientist and neuro anesthesiologist Joseph Cichon will guide Hammo over the course of the project. Although Cichon’s lab has previously been involved in studies investigating the effects of psychedelics such as ketamine on the brain, this will be the first time someone in Cichon’s group has elected to study’s psilocybin’s effect on chronic pain.
As more of these studies are conducted, startups such as Delic Holdings Inc. (CSE: DELC) (OTCQB: DELCF) are likely to be validated in the direction they are taking to develop additional treatments from different psychedelics.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Delic Holdings Corp. (CSE: DELC) (OTCQB: DELCF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/DELCF
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