# brain: waiting for 'magic strings', psilocybin is a 'relatively safe' drug.

<< Psilocybin-containing mushrooms are used for recreational, spiritual, self-development and therapeutic purposes. However, physiologically relatively nontoxic, adverse reactions are occasionally reported. >>

The << study investigated the 12-month prevalence and nature of magic mushroom-related adverse reactions resulting in emergency medical treatment seeking in a global sample of (9.233) people reporting magic mushroom use. >>️

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️ << The results confirm psilocybin mushrooms are a relatively safe drug, with serious incidents rare and short lasting. Providing harm-reduction information likely plays a key role in preventing adverse effects. More research is needed to examine the detailed circumstances and predictors of adverse reactions including rarer physiological reactions. >>️

Emma I Kopra, Jason A Ferris, et al. Adverse experiences resulting in emergency medical treatment seeking following the use of magic mushrooms. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 1-9. doi: 10.1177/ 02698811221084063. 

Apr 7, 2022.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02698811221084063

<< Psilocybin is currently being investigated in clinical trials for mental health conditions across the world, including in our department, (..) It is important to draw a distinction between the use of psilocybin in clinical or research settings and recreational magic mushroom use, with partly overlapping yet distinct safety considerations and risk profiles. >> Emma Kopra. 

Beth Ellwood. Large survey suggests psilocybin is a “relatively safe” drug, with serious reactions being rare and short-lived. May 4, 2022. 

https://www.psypost.org/2022/05/large-survey-suggests-psilocybin-is-a-relatively-safe-drug-with-serious-reactions-being-rare-and-short-lived-63075

Also

keyword 'magic string' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=magic+string

keyword 'psychedelic' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=psychedelic

Keywords: brain, drugs, magic string, magic mushrooms, psilocybin, psychedelic

# life: apropos of '1or2achoos' (from Wuhan), 'Shame on us', by Jay.

<< The year 2003 was an ominous one for emerging infectious diseases. A pair of deadly influenza strains had leapt from birds to humans in Hong Kong and the Netherlands. And a new coronavirus was spreading around the world causing a mysterious illness that became known as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Many experts feared they were watching the start of a global pandemic. Fortunately, the worst-case scenario never materialized. But it was a close-enough call for Robert Webster, a leading authority on avian influenza, to start urging scientists and policymakers to prepare for the next outbreak. One of his top recommendations: develop and stockpile drugs that target a wide range of viral pathogens. Drug researchers did not heed his call. After the SARS threat subsided, interest evaporated — and the world paid the price. “The scientific community really should have developed universal antivirals against SARS,” says Webster, now an emeritus member of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. “Then we would have had something in the stockpile for the emergence of COVID,” which is a caused by SARS-CoV-2, a close relative of the virus responsible for SARS. Another warning shot came in 2012, when Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) — caused by another relative of SARS-CoV-2 — started spreading through a handful of countries. Still, the drug shelves remained largely bare — a fact that Jay Bradner, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, regards as “regrettable”. >>️

<< Shame on us, (..) We can be better prepared. >> Jay Bradner.️

<< We need an arsenal, >> Kara Carter.

<< It’s hard to convince a company to make a drug against something that doesn’t exist. >>️  Timothy Sheahan.

<< There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, (..) We don’t want to have another year like 2020, (..) and we don’t have to, if we do the work in advance. >> Nat Moorman.️

️

Elie Dolgin. The race for antiviral drugs to beat COVID — and the next pandemic. Despite dire warnings, a stockpile of ready compounds to fight viral pandemics was sorely lacking. Can drugmakers finally do the right thing? Nature 592, 340-343. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-021-00958-4. Apr 14, 2021. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00958-4

Also

keyword 'virus' | 'sars-cov-2' in FonT: 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=sars-cov-2

keyword 'virus' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry):

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

apropos of "herd immunity" ... , FonT,  Mar 16, 2020.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2020/03/life-apropos-of-herd-immunity.html

# pharma: drawing 'magic strings' for GPCRs

<< Psychedelics such as LSD and magic mushrooms have proven highly effective in treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, but medical use of these drugs is limited by the hallucinations they cause. >>

<< What if we could redesign drugs to keep their benefits while eliminating their unwanted side effects? >> Ron O.  Dror. 

<< Dror's team describes discoveries that could be used to minimize or eliminate side effects in a broad class of drugs that target G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs. GPCRs are proteins found in all human cells. LSD and other psychedelics are molecules that attach to GPCRs, as are about a third of all prescription drugs, including antihistamines, beta blockers and opioids. So important is this molecular mechanism that Stanford professor Brian Kobilka shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in discovering how GPCRs work. >>

Tom Abate. What if we could design powerful drugs without unwanted side effects? Stanford University.  May 19, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-05-powerful-drugs-unwanted-side-effects.html    

The << work could provide a framework for the rational design of drugs that are more effective and have fewer side effects. >>

Carl-Mikael Suomivuori, Naomi R. Latorraca, et al. Molecular mechanism of biased signaling in a prototypical G protein–coupled receptor. Science. 

Vol. 367, Issue 6480, pp. 881-887

doi: 10.1126/ science.aaz0326. Feb 21, 2020.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6480/881   

Also

keyword 'magic' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=magic

keyword 'GPCR'  in Wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_protein-coupled_receptor