INKA SHAMANIC HEALING HOUSE
Healing Ceremonies with Ancient Medicinal Plants
Results of Treatments with Ayahuasca
The Ayahuasca is a psychotropic beverage, its main use is medicinal in traditional Inca wisdom. Western culture believes that the Ayahuasca has healing properties, so it was used in its traditional origin. Is it the outcome to consider it to be a therapeutic medicine? What safety does Ayahuasca give? The effectiveness of Ayahuasca, which is a brew with serotoninergic action from the Andean culture in South America.
Clinical studies confirm its effectiveness in treating medical or psychological diseases. There are no clinical tests that have been evaluated, there is a study or follow up with patients. Existing truths are anecdotal and tried on few people. In a classic work by Dr. Grob and Cols, a group of 20 people who took Ayahuasca was interviewed; 12 of the 20 participants were found to have experienced moderate and severe alcohol abuse; 6 participants were of violent behavior directed to high alcohol consumption before participating; 4 participants reported being drug users in the past; 8 of the 11 participants on their first experience with Ayahuasca had reports of alcohol, drug and nicotine use; 2 participants had major disorders such as depression, 3 had anxiety and phobias.
Researchers found on the evaluation that none of the patients matched the psychiatric diagnosis using the CIDI criteria. The problems were solved thanks to the use of the ritual Ayahuasca. In a recent study, 36 Ayahuasca participants were evaluated. Most of them had been shown to have had psychiatric problems and alcohol addiction or abuse, 2 of them suffering from active psychiatric disorder. Participation in the ceremonies of Ayahuasca was considered, reports one researcher, looking for benefits and solution to their problems. It is of greater force to assess the clinical efficacy of Ayahuasca in medical problems: an exploratory study that helped 4 women with clinical diagnoses of frequent depressive problems and episodes of medium to severe depression without psychotic symptoms. Those women received the concoction of the medicinal plant, 1 glass of Ayahuasca, after the exact dose, the depressive symptoms decreased between 40 minutes after the brew until the 14th day after. The Ayahuasca has an efficient reputation in the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction, showing good results on patients, but there are no clinical tests yet to clarify these information. There are clinics in the world that provide treatments with Ayahuasca and Wachuma in problems of dependence and depression. You can also try Ayahuasca retreats, Ayahuasca in Amazon, Ayahuasca in cusco. Ayahuasca in Peru.
The increasing manifestation of personal experiences about Ayahuasca in therapeutic practices and that it helps psychological growth emphasize the need for clinical studies. The Ayahuasca is a psychotropic concoction with serotonergic action. The best known botanical sources or origin of Ayahuasca are Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. Caapi is Ayahuasca, contains beta-carbolic with determinated MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors), mainly harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine (THH); the viridis has the serotonergic agonist -Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) component. DMT is not active to oral consumption, it is destroyed by the action of MAO enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract, the union with alkaloids MAOIs present in Caapi-Ayahuasca blocks its metabolic decomposition and makes it orally active. It is established that the main neurobiological mechanism is to act as an agonist of 5HT-2A receptors, located in glutamatergic pyramidal neurons of layer 5 of the prefrontal cortex. When 5HT-2A receptors light up, it produces auto release of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate by determining the neuronal response along the frontal cortex. Studies of EEG in people found cognitive stimulation properties of Ayahuasca resulting in power increases related to the beta band of the EEG. Another study used the neuroimaging technique SPECT, Ayahuasca was given to normal volunteers, it activated the frontal regions, as in the middle frontal and the surrounding anterior cortex. Such areas are engaged in somatic awareness and their subjective state, centers for emotional arousal. The hippocampus region also takes part in the activation process of memory and emotions that was triggered.
The system of neurobiological action of the Ayahuasca might even allow the person to “trip” through past and future personal experiences in a conscious way with emotions, thoughts and memories generally difficult to access in the ordinary state. The frontal region of the brain regulates the anticipatory behavior of planning and abstract reasoning, the activation of the areas could be useful to explain the different complexes and meanings of cognitive trances occurring under the effects of the Ayahuasca. They attest that under the effects of the Ayahuasca the same visual areas that light up when one is looking at an actual image are lit. In books of Psychology they clarify the detail of the phenomenological experience of Ayahuasca in different contexts: shamanic, psychotherapy and religious. The psychological profile of the effects of Ayahuasca was assessed in controlled studies using rating scales and visual analog scales. The evaluations used to assess the psychological effects of Ayahuasca were the HRS (Hallucinogen Rating Scale) and the ARCI (Addiction Research Center Inventory). It consists of six different groups of experiences induced by psychedelics: Synesthesia, which represents somatic effects; Affects, describes the modification in the thought process; Perception measures the olfactory, visual, gustatory, auditory experiences and finally Intensity reflects the power of the overall experience. Try Ayahuasca in Peru: Ayahuasca retreats, Ayahuasca Amazon, Ayahuasca in Cusco.
The score received on the six sub scales shows the ability to induce psychedelic effects. The experience of Ayahuasca was described by the volunteers as “pleasant”, “good effects”, “visions”, “stimulating”, safety; clinical studies also described severe or psychologically adverse events since the doses were not administered by professional persons.
The studies were performed on young healthy volunteers with previous experience in the use of psychedelic drugs, they can not be extrapolated to individuals who did not use Ayahuasca. Clinical studies report a person who suffered an episode of disorientation, a patient presented a psychotic reaction, after consuming Ayahuasca, he needed antipsychotic medication. There are cases of adverse psychiatric reactions with psychotic disorder, were analyzed after the dosage of Ayahuasca. The frequency of psychiatric reactions is statistically anecdotal, the safe psychological margin of Ayahuasca is significantly acceptable. Other studies reported reductions in patients with secondary psychiatric problems and positive changes in behavioral development within five days of the first experience with Ayahuasca. One study found the reduction in panic levels one hour after ingesting Ayahuasca compared to baseline. One study finds improvements in several psychological measures by doing six-month follow-ups after the first experience with Ayahuasca, a positive correlation between psychological changes and frequency and a negative correlation with the abstinence period. Research focused on the possibility of long-term psychiatric and cognitive sequelae of Ayahuasca in young adults (20-21) didn’t find any psychopathological changes or neurocognitive deficits. Participants who experienced adverse reactions abandoned the use of Ayahuasca.
In a comparative of 120 long-term Ayahuasca people against 125 people from a control group over a 1-year follow-up, they found that Ayahuasca users abuse less of drugs and alcohol and many have quit addictions altogether. One publication evaluated shows that the long-term use of Ayahuasca is not harmful to neuropsychological functions and does not cause psychopathological or personality alterations. Long-term use of Ayahuasca does not show neuropsychological damage, this may indicate that Ayahuasca is not neurotoxic.
You can also do your Ayahuasca session in Machu Picchu, the amazing Inca citadel.
