I've mentioned this before but I worked at a zoo and we provided all kinds of plants to primates that were medicinal for just this reason, they're very clever and often treat their illnesses before the keepers even know they're sick. Not just great apes either, capuchins and lemurs that aren't nearly as bright do it too.
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Wild chimpanzees eat plants that have pain-relieving and anti-bacterial properties to heal themselves, according to scientists.They described their âdetective workâ in the forests of Uganda - observing animals that appeared injured or sick to work out whether they were self-medicating with plants.When an injured animal sought out something specific from the forest to eat, the researchers collected samples of that plant and had it analysed.
Most of the plants tested turned out to have antibacterial properties.The scientists, who published their findings in the journal PLOS One, think the chimps could even help in the search for new medicines.
âWe can't test everything in these forests for their medicinal properties, lead researcher Dr Elodie Freymann, from the University of Oxford, said.
âSo why not test the plants that we have this information about - plants the chimps are seeking out?âOver the past four years, Dr Freymann has spent months at a time following and carefully observing two communities of wild chimpanzees in Budongo Central Forest Reserve.As well as looking for signs of pain - an animal limping or holding its body in an unusual way - she and her colleagues collected samples of droppings and urine to check for illness and infection.They paid particular attention when an injured or ill chimpanzee sought out something they do not normally eat - such as tree bark or fruit skin.âWe were looking for these behavioural clues that the plants might be medicinal,â Dr Freymann explained.She described one particular chimp - a male - that had a badly wounded hand.
âHe was the only chimp to seek out and eat these ferns.âThe researchers collected and analysed the fern - a plant called Christella parasitica, which turned out to have potent anti-inflammatory properties.In total, the researchers collected 17 samples from 13 different plant species and sent them to be tested by Dr Fabien Schultz, at the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany.That revealed that almost 90% of the extracts inhibited bacterial growth, and a third had natural anti-inflammatory properties, meaning they could reduce pain and promote healing.All the injured and ill chimps reported in this study fully recovered, Dr Freymann was happy to report.
âThe one who ate ferns was using his hand again within the next few days,â she explained.âOf course, we can't 100% prove that any of these cases were a direct result of eating these resources,â she told BBC News.âBut it highlights the medicinal knowledge that can be gained from observing other species in the wild and underscores the urgent need to preserve these âforest pharmaciesâ for future generations.â
Now, if only human brains were able to more accurately tell apart fake from real news, we'd have much less of a problem. I bet it has to do with training though. Once we get used to having deepfake voices talk to us as often as normal human voices, we probably won't be able to tell them apart - just like like with fake news. People trained to consider fake news normal will have much more difficulty telling it apart from genuine news.
What truly sucks about misaligned incentives in any environment is the impediment to science overall when people chase bad results trying to replicate false results.
This is an extreme acceleration of what is happening in the US as well. Any time employment or compensation is based on research outcomes, it is by definition a monetary incentive to doctor your outcomes.
In China this was down to their ranking system and grant eligibility. In the US this usually happens inside companies (see literally the entire history of DuPont and the research they did, or all the research that is funded by Nestle or Petrochemical companies), or in order to secure or keep tenured positions, or retain grants.
Good research needs to be publicly-funded, and devoid (as much as possible , from a methodological standpoint) of desired outcomes.
Sadly it happens in publicly-funded institutions too. Chasing grants requires "novel" research. And everyone needs to be noticed (I have friends working in both spaces).
Then there's the whole problem of most published research not being reproduceable, and the massive amount of garbage getting published. Peer review is a joke. Seems like actual reproduction by multiple independent researchers should be a requirement for publication these days.
Like you said, an accelerated (or openly condoned) version of what's happening in the US.
In case anyone else is short on time but wants to know what kind of misconduct:
Zhang and Wang describe researchers using services to write their papers for them, falsifying data, plagiarizing, exploiting students without offering authorship and bribing journal editors.
An associate dean emphasized the primacy of the publishing goal. âWe should not be overly stringent in identifying and punishing research misconduct, as it hinders our scholarsâ research efficiency.â
One interviewee admitted to paying for access to a data set. âI bought access to an official archive and altered the data to support my hypotheses.â
Rats are known to be more intelligent than us. When it comes to problem solving in as short a time as possible they win. Humans are not the samrtest animals, we are the animals capable of learning through abstract means. Our brains can encode lessons and decode them with nothing more than language. That's what separates us. We thankfully have less need of intelligence than other animals. Despite appearances, we are the wisest animals rather than the smartest.
Not only humans can use language to impart abstract concepts. Crows have been observed sharing information about danger to crows who are not present to witness the danger themselves, but then successfully recognize it in the future. They've also been found to be able to create tools they have not seen before in order to solve problems.
Koko the gorilla was also famous for her abstract thinking. Others species include dolphins and elephants, and obviously we haven't tested most species out there.
All this recent news about animal psychology has made me wonder what the fuck science has been examining in animals for the past entire time humans have existed, that it's only now they are thinking this.
Honestly Humanity has been pretty arrogant. Took 100s of years before we recognised birds use tools. Mainly because everytime it was seen. Some other excuse was seen for why the bird was sticking a stick into a tree. Science was so sure mankind was unique it was unwilling to see reality.
But honestly if you think that is bad. Do some research into why European explorers thought Europe represented the most advanced civilisation. African cities raised to the ground rather then face the idea they may have been their before us.
I'm older than most probably are on here, but not that old. I desperately wanted to get into animal behavioral science for higher education, but the prevailing thoughts at the time were that most animals are devoid of emotions. Negative reactions were chalked up to a pain response, and anything else was deemed anthropomorphism. I really wish I would have pushed anyway, because we have learned and accepted so much since then.
I would have loved to be involved in discoveries like we have read about in the last ten years. Follow your dreams, kids. Things can change faster than you think.
An independent group of experts expressed concerns that the data from clinical trials did not outweigh risks for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.
By Andrew Jacobs
June 4, 2024
An independent advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration rejected the use of MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder on Tuesday, highlighting the unparalleled regulatory challenges of a novel therapy using the drug commonly known as Ecstasy.
Before the vote, members of the panel raised concerns about the designs of the two studies submitted by the drugâs sponsor, Lykos Therapeutics. Many questions focused on the fact that study participants were by and large able to correctly guess whether they had been given MDMA, also known by the names of Ecstasy or molly.
The panel voted 9-2 on whether the MDMA-assisted therapy was effective, and voted 10-1 on whether the proposed treatmentâs benefits outweighed its risks.
Other panelists expressed concerns over the drugâs potential cardiovascular effects, and possible bias among the therapists and facilitators who guided the sessions and may have positively influenced patient outcomes. A case of misconduct involving a patient and therapist in the study also weighed on some panelistsâ minds.
Many of the committee members said they were especially worried about the failure of Lykos to collect detailed data from participants on the potential for abuse of a drug that generates feelings of bliss and well-being.
âI absolutely agree that we need new and better treatments for PTSD,â said Paul Holtzheimer, deputy director for research at the National Center for PTSD, a panelist who voted no on the question of whether the benefits of MDMA-therapy outweighed the risks.
âHowever, I also note that premature introduction of a treatment can actually stifle development, stifle implementation and lead to premature adoption of treatments that are either not completely known to be safe, not fully effective or not being used at their optimal efficacy,â he added.
While the vote is not binding on the F.D.A., the agency often follows the recommendations of its advisory panels. A final decision by the agency is expected in mid-August.
MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also sometimes referred to as midomafetamine is a synthetic psychoactive drug that fosters self-awareness, feelings of empathy and social connectedness.
The illegal drug is listed as a Schedule I substance, defined as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Should it win F.D.A. approval, federal health authorities and Justice Department officials would have to follow certain steps to downgrade the drugâs listing, much like the process now underway with cannabis.
The D.E.A. might also set production quotas for the drug ingredients, as it does with stimulant medications used to treat ADHD.
With the panelâs focus on such topics as âeuphoria,â âsuicidal ideationâ and âexpectation bias,â the daylong session on Tuesday demonstrated the nuances and complexities facing regulators as they grapple with the terra incognita of a therapy that only recently entered mainstream psychiatry after the nationâs decades-long war on drugs.
An added wrinkle: the F.D.A. is a regulator of medications. It does not regulate psychotherapy and has not evaluated drugs whose efficacy is tied to talk therapy.
If approved, MDMA-assisted therapy would be the first new treatment for PTSD in nearly 25 years. The condition, which affects some 13 million Americans, has been implicated in the outsized suicide rates among military veterans, whose suffering has galvanized lawmakers from both parties and prompted a sea change in public attitudes about therapies reliant on psychedelic compounds.
According to the studies submitted by Lykos, patients who received MDMA plus psychotherapy reported significant improvements in their mental health. The most recent drug trial found that more than 86 percent of those who took MDMA achieved a measurable reduction in severity of their PTSD symptoms.
About 71 percent of participants improved enough that they no longer met the criteria for a diagnosis. Of those who took the placebo, 69 percent improved and nearly 48 percent no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis, according to the submitted data.
The questions, concerns and evident skepticism voiced by the 10-member panel echoed those raised by agency staff members, who last week issued a briefing document aimed at helping the panel evaluate the efficacy and potential adverse health effects of MDMA therapy.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Tiffany Farchione, director of the F.D.A.âs division of psychiatry, noted the regulatory challenges posed by MDMA, saying âweâve been learning as we go along.â But in her testimony and in staff documents, she and other agency officials repeatedly noted that the overall study results were significant and lasting.
âAlthough the application presents a number of complex review issues, it does include two positive studies in which participants in the midomafetamine arm experienced statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in their PTSD symptoms,â she said. âAnd that improvement appears to be durable for at least several months after the end of the acute treatment period.â
Much of the criticism about Lykosâs study designs focused on so-called functional unblinding, a problem that affects many studies involving psychoactive compounds. Although the roughly 400 patients who took part in the studies were not told whether they had received MDMA or a placebo, to reduce the odds of bias in the results, the vast majority were acutely aware of any altered state of mind, leading them to correctly guess which study arm they were enrolled in.
The F.D.A., which worked with Lykos to design the trials, has acknowledged shortcomings in the study designs and recently issued new guidance to address the issues facing psychedelic researchers.
A number of other critical voices emerged in recent months. They include the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a nonprofit that examines the costs and effectiveness of medications, which issued a report calling the effects of the treatment âinconclusiveâ and questioning Lykosâs study results.
Other organizations, like the American Psychiatric Association, have not opposed approval outright, but have called on the F.D.A. to mitigate any potential negative consequences by crafting rigorous regulations, strict prescribing and dispensing controls, and close monitoring of patients.
The F.D.A. staff analysis recommended that approval should be contingent on restricted health care settings, monitoring of patients and diligent reporting of adverse events.
Just before they voted on Tuesday, the advisory panel heard from more than 30 speakers who offered starkly divergent views on the application.
Several critics focused on Rick Doblin, a veteran psychedelics advocate who in 1986 founded the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the nonprofit organization that filed the original application for MDMA-assisted therapy with the F.DA. The organization later created a for-profit entity that earlier this year became Lykos.
Brian Pace, a lecturer at Ohio State University, described the company applying for approval as a âtherapy cultâ and criticized Mr. Doblinâs public comments highlighting his zeal for psychedelics, including a belief that legalizing and regulating them would bring about world peace.
But the majority of those who spoke in favor of the application offered deeply personal accounts of how MDMA-therapy had largely quieted the symptoms of their PTSD.
Among them was Cristina Pearse, who said she suffered from PTSD after being sexually assaulted when she was 9. Over the years, she said she had been prescribed a litany of psychiatric medications and at one point she attempted suicide.
MDMA therapy, she said, changed her life. âWhat used to feel like a tsunami of overwhelming panic was now merely a puddle at my feet,â said Ms. Pearse, who started an organization that helps women recovering from trauma.
She ended her testimony by urging the F.D.A. to approve the application.
âHow many more people need to die before we approve an effective therapy?â she asked. âAs you weigh the risk, please keep in mind that this therapy can save many lives. I lost most of my life to this disease. Iâm grateful to reclaim it now. But I wish this was an approved medication decades ago.â
A bit late to the party, but the FDA panel is a recommendation body, not the FDA itself. FDA can overrule this, but as I said, that's a fraught choice.
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