- Title: Ecstasy treatment shows promise in Phase 2 clinical trial
- Date: 5th November 2018
- Summary: NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR COLE MARTA, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IN MAPS' CLINICAL TRIAL OF MDMA-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR PTSD, SAYING: "This is not people taking MDMA and getting high or feeling euphoria and us attributing, calling that success. This is extremely hard work. Anybody who's worked with trauma knows these people are taking MDMA and it is helping them tolerate discussing the worst thing that has ever happened to them." VAZIANI MILITARY BASE, GEORGIA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF US AND GEORGIAN SOLDIERS DURING MILITARY TRAINING ON TRAINING GROUND NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR COLE MARTA, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IN MAPS' CLINICAL TRIAL OF MDMA-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR PTSD, SAYING: "The hope is that by around 2021 that MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD would be an FDA approved treatment." RACHEL HOPE, WHO WAS TREATED FOR HER PTSD WITH MDMA, WALKING UP STAIRS INTO ROOM HOPE TYPING ON COMPUTER CLOSE OF COMPUTER KEYBOARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) RACHEL HOPE, PATIENT WHOSE PTSD WAS TREATED WITH MDMA, SAYING: "I was extremely sick with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I had given up after 20 years of doing every kind of therapy and every kind of medicine to try and get better and I just kept on getting worse." VARIOUS OF HOPE KITCHEN MAKING HOT DRINKS (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (English) RACHEL HOPE, PATIENT WHOSE PTSD WAS TREATED WITH MDMA, SAYING: "We need a mental health revolution and I know that this therapy works so I am trying to tell as many people as I can - 'hang on, don't hurt yourself, don't give up'."
- Embargoed: 19th November 2018 10:02
- Keywords: MDMA Ecstasy PTSD post traumatic stress disorder
- Location: FILE LOCATIONS
- City: FILE LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0029589Q3F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Results from a Phase 2 clinical trial in the US have shown impressive results in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients with the drug MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy.
In the trial in Boulder, Colorado 76 percent of patients treated with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy were shown not to meet the standard clinical criteria for the illness 12 months after treatment.
Led by psychotherapist Marcela Ot'alora, 28 patients with clinically diagnosed PTSD persistent for an average of more than three decades, underwent two day-long MDMA treatment sessions followed by integrative therapy.
Earlier this year a study of 26 military veterans showed that combining intensive psychotherapy with a pure form of the party drug could aid recovery in PTSD sufferers.
In the California study, separate to the Boulder trial, researchers said its results suggested that, with close medical and psychological supervision, giving MDMA to PTSD patients "could enhance the benefits of psychotherapy".
"This is not people taking MDMA and getting high or feeling euphoria and us calling that success. This is extremely hard work. Anybody who's worked with trauma knows these people are taking MDMA and it is helping them tolerate discussing the worst thing that has ever happened to them," said Cole Marta, a doctor working with the non-profit US Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which funded the research told Reuters.
The U.S. drug regulator last year designated MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD a "breakthrough therapy" - meaning it can be fast tracked for review and potential approval.
Rachel Hope, who lives in Los Angeles, was treated with MDMA for her PTSD as part of a previous study. She was diagnosed more than 20 years ago, and says her symptoms have been 90 per cent reduced as a result.
"I was extremely sick with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I had given up after 20 years of doing every kind of therapy and every kind of medicine to try and get better and I just kept on getting worse... I know that this therapy works so I am trying to tell as many people as I can - 'hang on, don't hurt yourself, don't give up'," she said.
If large scale trials can be shown to replicate earlier results, the drug could be approved for legal use by 2021. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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