Jumping ahead of the science?
Commenting on the study for Medscape Medical News, Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry at Columbia University, New York City, said he “gives the investigators credit for doing such a study” but does not believe anything can be gleaned from the findings.
He said he is also concerned that the resurgence of psychedelic research is not congruent with “the methodologic rigor and scientific thinking that accompanies treatment development in other disease areas.”
Lieberman, who is also psychiatrist-in-chief at the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital Columbia Medical Center and was not involved with the study, added that some of the research is also being conducted in individuals who are “true believers and not sufficiently dispassionate and objective.”
“ But because these are such notorious and interesting compounds, they have attracted a lot of peripheral interest to promote and to disseminate; and the risk is that it will be done in the wrong way and there may be consequences,” he said.
Moreover, Lieberman noted that the psychedelic drugs may be used in practice ahead of strong evidence of safety and efficacy. As an example, he pointed to ketamine, a drug that was identified as a treatment for people with depression who had not responded to standard treatments, he noted.
“But before you knew it, there were clinics being opened up all over the place by anesthesiologists or other people that were trying to make a quick buck,” he said.
“That was alarming because they were stretching the criteria for whom the treatment was appropriate; there were no protocols for dosing, for frequency of administration, and there was inadequate psychiatric follow-up,” Lieberman added.
Preliminary but promising
He agreed with Kuypers that cases of microdosing with psychedelics are largely anecdotal.
“So in that context, when these investigators tried to put it to a test, which is commendable, the results in no way tell you whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent,” Lieberman said. In fact, the results are “disappointing in terms of suggesting any beneficial effect.”
Lieberman said more and larger studies are needed in order to determine whether LSD microdosing is beneficial.
In response to Lieberman’s comments, Kuypers told Medscape Medical News that the investigators tried to base their placebo-controlled research on previous anecdotal research.
She emphasized that the “whole field is still in its infancy,” including research on the use of “full” doses of psychedelics.
“I sometimes think that the message is too positive. We should never forget to communicate that not a lot of research has been done.” In addition, she agreed that researchers should “keep a balanced message.”
“All the data to date is preliminary, in my view, but promising,” she stressed, “and the evidence is growing.”
The study received financial support from the Beckley Foundation. The study authors and Lieberman have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
This article first appeared on Medscape.com.