“Administer 5g psilocybin”. This experiment seems really awful to me.
Don’t get me wrong, psychedelics can be great but the idea of giving them to someone with an already severely fractured mental state seems unethical, and the gains they talk about are almost certainly going to be temporary in a way that is going to prolong their suffering.
I understand where you're coming from, but strongly disagree with your conclusions. A patient with severe Alzheimer's effectively has nothing to lose, and the same goes for the patient's loved ones. Moreover, I'd argue the risks involved are minor/short-lived, while the gains are potentially priceless, even if temporary.
First of all 5mg is a standard medical dosage for this medicine and isn’t likely to produce horrible experiences that you would get with much larger doses.
Second, you think it’s more ethical to let a patient suffer? Are you against emergency surgeries where a patient is unconscious after a car accident?
> Second, you think it’s more ethical to let a patient suffer? Are you against emergency surgeries where a patient is unconscious after a car accident?
My concern is that this induces more suffering. They are going to gain lucidity and then lose it again. That must be deeply distressing (for the family/relatives too). Can’t imagine that psychedelics help with the state of psychosis/hallucinations that advanced Alzheimer’s patients already experience too
From the Frontiers paper: "The patient received 5 g of orally administered psilocybin-containing mushrooms (Enigma strain". i.e., a standard dose of 5g of mushroom.
I’m assuming you’ve never taken mushrooms before (on average there is probably ~10mg psilocybin per dried gram, so 5g is 50mg which is on the high end of dosing, definitely not ‘standard’)