World renown scientists have recently found that Ayahuasca, an age-old hallucinogenic that is used in and around the Amazon river area of South America, stimulates the creation of new brain cells. This could well lead to an alternative treatment for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases as well as a multitude of other ailments that effect the brain.
Dr. Jordi Riba revealed these exciting, ground-breaking outcomes of this study Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelics Research back in early June of this year in Amsterdam. The slides of Dr. Riba’s presentation are available to view here.
The scientific study was administered at the Beckley/Sant Pau Research Programme and was intertwined with the Spanish National Research Council. Within the study were the prized researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC): , María Isabel Rodriguez-Franco, Jose Morales-García, Mario de la Fuente Revenga, and Ana Pérez-Castillo. They discovered that harmine and tetrahydroharmine, two of the highest volume alkaloids contained in Ayahuasca, activate the growth of fully developed neurons and advance their birth from the stem cells.
Dr. Riba writes, “For a long time, a dogma has persisted that no new neurons are born in the brains of adults. Since the late 1990’s, this dated paradigm has been challenged by experimental evidence. The birth of new neurons, known as neurogenesis, occurs in two brain areas: around the ventricles and in a region of the hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a key role in important cognitive tasks such as learning and memory. Its function declines with the normal aging process, but does so much more dramatically in the presence of certain devastating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.” Dr. Riba continued, “This is the first study ever conducted that demonstrates that components of the Ayahuasca brew have potent neurogenic properties. Although the results are preliminary, they show that the addition of harmine and tetrahydroharmine to cell cultures containing neural stem cells dramatically increased their differentiation, and their maturation into neurons. We are currently conducting additional experiments to discern the magnitude of the observed effects, as well as undertaking studies on live animals. The replication of the present findings in vivo would open a totally new avenue of research for Ayahuasca and its active principles. Potential applications would range from treating neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, to redressing brain damage associated with stroke or trauma.”
Dr. Riba describes a few of his discoveries and explains them in detail.
“What you are seeing is a “static picture” taken after several days of treatment of the stem cells with the different compounds. No neurons were present prior to the three different tretments: a) saline (water+salt); b) harmine; and c) tetrahydroharmine
The first image is the control, when only salty water (saline) added to the cell cultures. The nuclei of the stem cells can be seen in blue. These stem cells have been treated with saline for several days and only a few have developed into young neurons (the few green sports in the image).
The second image shows the results after several days of treatment with harmine: blue is still present because it’s a marker of cell nuclei, and all cells have nuclei (stem cells and neurons). The green spots are the young neurons marked using Tuj1 staining (this staining is specific for “neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin) present in recently created neurons. The red spots show more mature neurons. The staining marks the “microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2). Its presence increases during neuron development.
The third image shows the results obtained after several days of treatment with tetrahydroharmine. The meaning of the colors is the same.
Co-Director of the Beckley Sant Pau research program, Amanda Feilding concluded: “The images from the Beckley/Sant Pau collaboration showing the birth of new neurons are very interesting and suggest that Ayahuasca could lead to a new approach in the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, among others.” This is a stunning discovery, the possibilities are endless, the cure to brain illnesses might be on the near horizon, now we’ll have to convince the lawmakers in the United States of America to allow this treatment. With Cannabis already surfacing on some of the legislative priorities, an all natural brew from South America that looks extremely promising needs to be brought to light in hopes to bring hope to those who are suffering. Below is a well done documentary that explains more about another compound in Ayahausca and in other plants and animals including our own bodies called DMT (dimethyltryptamine). It details more about this miracle plant that has been helping to enrich people’s lives. This is also available on Netflix.
By Andre’ Gabriel Esparza – DontComply.com
