The benefits of psilocybin treatment for depression might last as long as five years for some, a new study says. Two-thirds of participants in an early psilocybin clinical trial remained in complete remission from their depression when researchers checked in on them five years later, according to results published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies. “Five years later, most people continued to view this treatment as safe, meaningful, important and something that catalyzed an ongoing betterment of their life,” said lead researcher Alan Davis, director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at Ohio State University in Columbus. “It’s important for us to understand the details of what comes after treatment,” he said in a news release. “I think this is a sign that regardless of what the outcomes are, their lives were improved because they participated in something like this.” Psilocybin is the main psychedelic substance found in magic mushrooms. Research has shown that psilocybin could potentially be effective in treating alcoholism, anxiety and depression, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.  In the original clinical trial, 24 people with major depressive disorder received two doses of psilocybin combined with psychotherapy. Overall, the participants experienced a significant reduction in their depression symptoms. Of those participants, 18 agreed to the five-year follow-up, in which they filled out a series of…  read on >  read on >

Destroying the Amazon rainforest doesn’t just threaten the environment, it may also make people sick. A study published Sept. 11 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment found that rates of certain diseases were lower in regions where forests were protected and managed by Indigenous peoples.  Researchers say the findings add evidence to what Indigenous communities have long believed: That human health and the health of the forest are deeply connected. “The ‘forest man’ or ‘man forest,’ according to the Indigenous perspective, has always been linked to the reciprocity between human health and the natural environment where one lives,” Francisco Hernández Cayetano, president of the Federation of Ticuna and Yagua Communities of the Lower Amazon (FECOTYBA) in Peru, told The Associated Press. “If each state does not guarantee the rights and territories of Indigenous peoples, we would inevitably be harming their health, their lives and the ecosystem itself,” he added. For the study, researchers examined forest quality, legal recognition of Indigenous territories and disease rates across Amazon countries. They found that healthier forests often resulted in fewer cases of respiratory illness and infectious diseases like malaria. “They claim that Indigenous territories only protect health when forest cover is above 40%. And so that that feels like, why 40%? Why not 35? Or why not a range?” said Magdalena Hurtado, a professor of anthropology and global…  read on >  read on >

Destroying the Amazon rainforest doesn’t just threaten the environment, it may also make people sick. A study published Sept. 11 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment found that rates of certain diseases were lower in regions where forests were protected and managed by Indigenous peoples.  Researchers say the findings add evidence to what Indigenous communities have long believed: That human health and the health of the forest are deeply connected. “The ‘forest man’ or ‘man forest,’ according to the Indigenous perspective, has always been linked to the reciprocity between human health and the natural environment where one lives,” Francisco Hernández Cayetano, president of the Federation of Ticuna and Yagua Communities of the Lower Amazon (FECOTYBA) in Peru, told The Associated Press. “If each state does not guarantee the rights and territories of Indigenous peoples, we would inevitably be harming their health, their lives and the ecosystem itself,” he added. For the study, researchers examined forest quality, legal recognition of Indigenous territories and disease rates across Amazon countries. They found that healthier forests often resulted in fewer cases of respiratory illness and infectious diseases like malaria. “They claim that Indigenous territories only protect health when forest cover is above 40%. And so that that feels like, why 40%? Why not 35? Or why not a range?” said Magdalena Hurtado, a professor of anthropology and global…  read on >  read on >

County jail inmates who receive medication to treat their opioid addiction have a lower risk of overdose after their release, a new study reports. They’re also significantly more likely to continue their addiction treatment, researchers reported Sept. 10 in The New England Journal of Medicine. “These findings demonstrate the importance of providing medications to treat opioid use disorder in correctional settings,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a news release. “Offering effective opioid treatment to people in jail is a critical step toward addressing the opioid crisis, promoting recovery, saving lives and reducing reincarceration,” added Volkow, whose agency funded the research. “It’s a win-win for public health.” The opioid epidemic contributed to more than 80,000 deaths in 2024, and there tends to be a higher proportion of people with opioid abuse disorder in jail compared to the general population, researchers said in background notes. Medications like buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone are known to be effective in helping people break their opioid addiction, but they are available in only about 13% of U.S. jails, researchers said. For this study, researchers analyzed data from 6,400 people with probable opioid use disorder incarcerated in seven Massachusetts county jails between September 2019 and December 2020. In 2018, Massachusetts passed a law enacting a four-year pilot program to provide opioid addiction medications to…  read on >  read on >