Alzheimer's Disease claims significant mortality expense on an aging population, however, there is still hope with the emergence of a new medicine: entheogenic mushrooms.
As the 6th leading cause of death in the US by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Alzheimer's Disease claims a significant mortality expense on an aging population over generations. It is a neurological ailment distinguished as a neurocognitive disorder with progressive retrograde memory loss characterized most often by cognitive impairment, mental deterioration, behavioral polarity, and psychological pathologies such as depression. Alzheimer's insidious signs and symptoms, inextricably linked to old age, affiliates a mortality risk to a demographic above age 60. The onset of this disease precedes before any observed symptoms such as dementia are recognizable. Cerebral cortex analysis of Alzheimer's patients entails a loss of neuronal mass which accounts for mental impairment, neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein conglomerates from microtubule degradation causing decreased neuronal communication, and deposits of neuritic amyloid plaques consisting of misfolded proteins aggregates that disrupt cell communication and initiate a chronic inflammatory response.
"More than six million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's. This number is expected to triple to sixteen million by 2050." Courtesy of Alzheimer's Association
Although its precise causality is still inconclusive today, a culmination of ongoing research and studies has narrowed the theory to include genomics, age-associated cellular and biological change accumulations, environmental and lifestyle agents. With such uncertainty in articulating its cause, Alzheimer's is presently incurable, and its treatments are also limited in their functionality to slow its progression. However, pharmacology is currently most studied and utilized for providing Alzheimer's patients with comfort, self-sufficiency, and self-confidence. The designated class of medication is distinct for mild/moderate Alzheimer's and moderate/severe Alzheimer's. Patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's commonly receive cholinesterase inhibitors to increase acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter in the brain crucial for memory and thinking. Although this agonist operates to prevent acetylcholine degradation and sustain a maximal level of acetylcholine production, it is ineffective in the late stages of Alzheimer's, with the loss of neuronal cells and communication that leads to decreased acetylcholine effect. Contrasted to such drugs, patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's receive prescriptions for N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists for regular functioning. This class of drugs regulates NMDA receptors on brain cells to reduce the adverse effects of excess glutamate neurotransmitters that can excite neurons to their death. Although effective in their function to minimize the unpleasant symptoms, they are not satisfactory in substantially reducing its progression and accompanied by undesirable side effects. However, there is still an emerging new treatment that is effective and potent yet to be recognized.
The utilization of an entheogenic mushroom, Hericium erinaceus, as a medicinal medium in rat sample experiments has provided empirically relevant evidence of promoting brain activity and neuronal growth via its active elements. Grown naturally, the H. erinaceus mushroom comprises both hericenones and erinacines- active ingredients efficient in improving mild cognitive impairment and stimulating nerve growth, respectively. Hericenones, in the fruiting body of the mushroom, have corroborated, via a placebo-controlled trial, its ability to correct cognitive impairment in aged individuals who suffer from mild cognitive impairment. A 2009 study involving a sample group of 30, 50- to 80-year-old subjects randomized into two separate groups of 15 underwent a 16-week course with one group receiving a placebo and the other four 250 mg tablets containing 96% H. erinaceus dry powder three times a day. The subjects tested after a duration of 4-week intervals with a cognitive functioning test, Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale, showed notable improvement at the end of weeks 8, 12, and 16 in their cognitive skills. Furthermore, the subjects presented no adverse signs of side effects upon the intake of the mushroom's fruiting body giving credence to its effectiveness. Erinacine, enriched in the mycelia of the fungi, is also a desirable bioactive ingredient associated most in enhancing nerve growth for the sustainability of neuronal mass and communication. Functional in promoting neurotrophic factor expression, erinacine A studies in rats have identified "attenuated expression of inflammatory mediators and... reduced amyloid plaques." A particular study using 5-month old transgenic mice, fed H. erinaceus mycelia containing 19mg/g erinacine A, emphasized the effectiveness of this active ingredient as a subsequent 30-day analysis substantiated lessened amyloid plaques, increased nerve growth factors, and the corresponding number of newly born neurons. The mechanisms of this active compound prevent disease-induced cell death and influence neuronal generation in the hippocampus-associated cortex of rat brains representative of merging sensory stimuli into memories. As such, these valuable investigations and their remarkable findings are substantial in unearthing the sequestered potential of entheogenic treatments.
Although current pharmacological medications have been satisfactory in reducing the adverse symptoms of Alzheimer's, a consideration of a distinguished treatment that functions to combat and delay the damage of this disease is possible. Studies have well documented the positive effects of Hericium erinaceus in human and model animal studies. However, its respect as a prominent field that requires further research and outlook is still minimal. The organic and active compounds of H. erinaceus are safe and capable medicinal substances for minimizing the mortality of Alzheimer's disease that plagues the aging population and restoring the cognitive, behavioral, and motor functionality of those affected.
-Ojas Sali