Scientists at the University of Reading have discovered that psilocybin, the active compound found in magic mushrooms, may provide long-lasting relief from nerve pain and may also improve the effectiveness of existing pain medications.
The findings were published in the journal Communications Biology.
Nerve pain, also known as neuropathic pain, is one of the most difficult types of chronic pain to treat. It happens when nerves become damaged due to injury, disease, surgery, diabetes, infections, or other medical conditions.
Unlike ordinary pain caused by cuts or inflammation, nerve pain often continues long after the original injury has healed. People with nerve pain may experience burning sensations, stabbing pain, tingling, numbness, or extreme sensitivity to touch.
Millions of people worldwide live with chronic nerve pain, and many existing treatments do not work well enough.
One of the most commonly prescribed drugs for nerve pain is gabapentin. Doctors often use it to treat conditions such as diabetic nerve damage, shingles-related pain, and chronic pain after injuries or surgeries.
However, gabapentin does not help everyone. Researchers estimate that between 30% and 50% of people with nerve pain fail to get enough relief from the drug alone. In addition, some pain medications can cause severe side effects, dependence, or addiction.
Because of these problems, scientists have been searching for new ways to treat chronic pain.
In the new study, researchers tested psilocybin in mice with nerve damage that caused long-lasting pain symptoms.
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms. In recent years, scientists have increasingly studied psilocybin for possible mental health benefits, including treatment for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The new study explored whether the compound could also affect chronic pain.
The researchers found that a single dose of psilocybin reduced nerve pain in mice for up to one month.
The pain-relieving effect began around two hours after the injection. Surprisingly, the benefits lasted long after the drug itself had disappeared from the body.
Scientists believe this may happen because psilocybin changes the way the brain processes pain rather than simply blocking pain signals temporarily.
According to the researchers, psilocybin appears to reorganize or “reset” pain-processing networks inside the brain. This may explain why the effects continued for weeks after treatment.
One of the most important findings involved how psilocybin interacted with gabapentin.
Researchers gave gabapentin to mice several weeks after the single psilocybin dose, after psilocybin’s direct pain-relieving effects had already faded.
Even then, the gabapentin worked much better in mice that had previously received psilocybin.
In those animals, gabapentin produced pain relief lasting up to four days. In mice that had not received psilocybin, the pain relief from gabapentin was much weaker.
This suggests that psilocybin may change the brain in a way that makes standard pain medications more effective.
Dr. Maria Maiarú, the senior author of the study, said the findings could be especially important for people whose pain is not well controlled by current medications.
She explained that many patients live with severe nerve pain despite taking prescribed drugs, while others experience dangerous side effects or risks of addiction from long-term pain treatment.
According to Dr. Maiarú, psilocybin may offer a completely different approach because it appears to change the brain’s pain systems themselves rather than simply dulling symptoms temporarily.
The researchers also noted that the pain-relieving effects were seen in both male and female mice.
This is important because historically, much pain research was performed mainly in male animals, even though chronic pain conditions are extremely common in women.
The study followed strict U.K. animal research regulations designed to minimize animal suffering and reduce the number of animals used.
Although the findings are promising, researchers stress that this was still an early-stage animal study.
The results do not yet prove that psilocybin will safely or effectively treat chronic nerve pain in humans.
Future clinical trials in people will be needed before doctors can determine whether the treatment could become part of routine medical care.
Researchers also need to better understand the long-term safety of psilocybin treatment, appropriate dosing, and how the drug affects the brain over time.
Still, the findings add to growing scientific interest in psychedelic compounds as possible medical treatments.
In recent years, studies have suggested that psychedelics may influence brain plasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize and form new connections.
Scientists believe this ability may help explain why psychedelic drugs sometimes produce long-lasting changes in mood, behavior, and possibly pain perception.
If you care about pain, please read studies about how to manage your back pain, and Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to live pain-free with arthritis, and results showing common native American plant may help reduce diarrhea and pain.
Source: University of Reading.
