Is there a case for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the UK?

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Sessa
Keyword(s):  
Medical Profession ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
History Of ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
The Uk ◽  
New Research ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Recreational Use

Much has been written in scientific and popular literature in recent years about the dangers surrounding the recreational use of the drug MDMA/ecstasy. What is little known and understood however is the history of the apparently safe and effective use of MDMA as a therapeutic tool for psychotherapy. In this paper the author explores this history and describes the recent re-emergence of scientific interest in MDMA and other psychedelic drugs. There are currently several new double-blind randomised controlled trials underway re-visiting the subject. By acknowledging the limitations of this new research and emphasising the importance of exercising appropriate but realistic caution, the author asks that the medical profession consider a dispassionate and open-minded debate to examine whether MDMA might have a legitimate place as an adjunct to psychotherapy in modern psychiatric practice.

scholarly journals A Feasibility Study of the Mistletoe and Breast Cancer (MAB) Trial: A Protocol for a Randomised Double-blind Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Bryant ◽  
Lorna Duncan ◽  
Gene Feder ◽  
Alyson Huntley
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Locally Advanced ◽  
Cochrane Review ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Mistletoe Therapy

Abstract Background: A Cochrane review of mistletoe therapy concludes that there is some evidence that mistletoe extracts may offer benefits on measures of quality of life during chemotherapy for breast cancer, but these results need replication. Our aim was to test the feasibility of a placebo controlled, double blind randomised controlled trial of mistletoe therapy in patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. Methods/design: A placebo controlled, double blind randomised controlled trial of mistletoe therapy in patients with breast cancer. There will be three arms (groups) in the trial: Iscador M, Iscador P, with physiological saline as the placebo. The aim is to recruit 45 adult patients with a new diagnosis of early or locally advanced breast cancer, up to 12 weeks following definitive breast surgery whose standard treatment plan includes chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. They will be taught to administer the MAB therapies subcutaneously and will titrate up to their optimal dose. MAB therapy will continue throughout their standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy and one month beyond. The main outcome of the MAB study is the feasibility of conducting such a trial within the NHS in order to inform a future fully powered investigative trial. Feasibility will be measured through recruitment, retention and patient experience using clinical research forms, patient diaries, cancer-related questionnaires and qualitative interviews conducted with both patients and oncology staff.Discussion: This trial is the first of its kind in the UK. Currently mistletoe therapy is mostly available through private practice in the UK. Completion of this feasibility study will support applications for further funding for a fully powered randomised controlled trial which will measure effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this herbal therapy.

scholarly journals Impact of Doxycycline on Covid-19 Patients With Risk Factors of Disease Degradation: Dynamic, A Randomised Controlled Double-blind Trial

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Poinas ◽  
David Boutoille ◽  
Florence Vrignaud ◽  
Jean-Michel Nguyen ◽  
Fabrice Bonnet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Duration Of Treatment ◽  
Inflammatory Skin Diseases ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Registration Number ◽  
Risk Patients ◽  
History Of ◽  
Randomised Controlled

Abstract Background: The DYNAMIC study is based on three properties of tetracyclines. (1) Tetracyclines are known to chelate zinc from metalloproteases (MMPs). It is possible that their chelating activity may help to inhibit COVID-19 infection by limiting its ability to replicate in the host. (2) As seen with dengue virus, tetracyclines may also be able to inhibit the replication of positive polarity single-stranded RNA viruses, such as COVID-19. (3) In addition, tetracyclines are modulators of innate immunity (anti-inflammatory activity), a property that has been used to treat inflammatory skin diseases for many years. They could therefore participate in limiting the cytokine storm induced by COVID-19. The lipophilic nature of tetracyclines and their strong pulmonary penetration could allow them to inhibit viral replication at this level. Among tetracyclines, the advantages of doxycycline are triple: its long history of safety (infrequent side effects with no notable risks), the short duration of treatment and its low cost.Methods: By estimating the rate of patients presenting pulmonary signs requiring hospitalisation in at-risk patients infected with COVID-19 at 25%, we hypothesise that on doxycycline, this rate would decrease to 12%. The main objective involves 2 embedded hypotheses tested successively in case of rejection of the previous one: (i) Decrease the rate of patients requiring hospitalisation, (ii) Decrease the use of mechanical ventilatory assistance.Discussion: This study could have an impact on the management of COVID-19 risk factor patientsupstream of hospitals by general practitioners. These patients,if kept at home under experimental treatment, would participate in reducing the risk of dissemination of SAR-CoV-2in the population.Thus, this treatment would contribute to supporting the deconfinement strategy through blocking the viral infection early and reducing the contagious period.Trial Registration: On ClinicalTrials.gov, registration number NCT04371952, first published on 30 April 2020.

scholarly journals Protocol for the ORaClES study: an online randomised controlled trial to improve clinical estimates of survival using a training resource for medical students

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e025265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Oostendorp ◽  
Nicola White ◽  
Priscilla Harries ◽  
Sarah Yardley ◽  
Christopher Tomlinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Online Training ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Patient Will ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Symptoms And Signs

IntroductionClinicians often struggle to recognise when palliative care patients are imminently dying (last 72 hours of life). A previous study identified the factors that expert palliative care doctors (with demonstrated prognostic skills) had used, to form a judgement about which patients were imminently dying. This protocol describes a study to evaluate whether an online training resource showing how experts weighted the importance of various symptoms and signs can teach medical students to formulate survival estimates for palliative care patients that are more similar to the experts’ estimates.Methods and analysisThis online double-blind randomised controlled trial will recruit at least 128 students in the penultimate or final year of medical school in the UK. Participants are asked to review three series of vignettes describing patients referred to palliative care and provide an estimate about the probability (0%–100%) that each patient will die within 72 hours. After the first series, students randomised to the intervention arm are given access to an online training resource. All participants are asked to complete a second series of vignettes. After 2 weeks, all participants are asked to complete a third series. The primary outcome will be the probability of death estimates (0%–100%) provided by students in the intervention and control arms for the second series of vignettes. Secondary outcomes include the maintenance effect at 2-week follow-up, weighting of individual symptoms and signs, and level of expertise (discrimination and consistency).Ethics and disseminationApproval has been obtained from the UCL Research Ethics Committee (8675/002) and local approvals will be obtained as appropriate. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals using an open access format and presented at academic conferences. We will also publicise our findings on the Marie Curie website.Trial registration numberNCT03360812; Pre-results.

Double-blind, randomised, controlled study of post-operative pain in children undergoing radiofrequency tonsillotomy versus laser tonsillotomy

2010 ◽  
Vol 124 (8) ◽  
pp. 880-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Stelter ◽  
R de la Chaux ◽  
M Patscheider ◽  
B Olzowy
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Laser ◽  
Surgical Techniques ◽  
Peritonsillar Abscess ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Post Operative Pain ◽  
History Of ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
Double Blinded

AbstractIntroduction:In the last decade tonsillotomy has come into vogue again, whereas the number of tonsillectomies is decreasing rapidly. Currently, most tonsils are reduced by utilise electrosurgery, radiofrequency or carbon dioxide laser. However, it is not clear whether radiofrequency tonsillotomy is as effective as laser or other surgical techniques in respect of post-operative pain and haemorrhage.Material and methods:A prospective, randomised, double-blinded, controlled, clinical study was conducted in the otorhinolaryngology department of Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. Twenty-six children with tonsillar hypertrophy were included. Exclusion criteria were: history of peritonsillar abscess, previous tonsil surgery, tonsillitis within two weeks, pain before surgery, psychiatric illness, asymmetrical tonsils, chronic analgesic usage, bleeding disorders and other surgical procedures during the same operation. Tonsillotomy was performed on one side with radiofrequency and on the other side with a carbon dioxide laser. All procedures were performed by a single surgeon, under general anaesthesia. A visual analogue scale was used to measure patients' pain on each side, administered by a ‘blinded’ nurse on the three post-operative mornings and evenings, within the hospital.Results:There was no difference in post-operative pain scores or haemorrhage, comparing laser versus radiofrequency tonsillotomy. Patient's overall reported pain was very modest compared with post-tonsillectomy pain. No haemorrhage or other adverse effects were observed.

Does fluoxetine improve recovery after stroke?

BMJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. l1029
Author(s):  
Rob Cook ◽  
Vaughan Thomas ◽  
Rosie Martin
Keyword(s):  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Health Technology Assessment Programme ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
The Uk

The study FOCUS Trial Collaboration. Effects of fluoxetine on functional outcomes after acute stroke (FOCUS): a pragmatic, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial. Lancet 2019;393:256-74. The study was funded by the UK Stroke Association and the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme project number 13/04/30. To read the full NIHR Signal, go to: https://discover.dc.nihr.ac.uk/content/signal-000729/a-commonly-used-antidepressant-doesnt-improve-recovery-after-stroke

The Film World’s Cooperative Store: Institutions and Films of the 1930s and 1940s

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Claire Thomson
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Early History ◽  
World War ◽  
International Context ◽  
German Occupation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This chapter traces the early history of state-sponsored informational filmmaking in Denmark, emphasising its organisation as a ‘cooperative’ of organisations and government agencies. After an account of the establishment and early development of the agency Dansk Kulturfilm in the 1930s, the chapter considers two of its earliest productions, both process films documenting the manufacture of bricks and meat products. The broader context of documentary in Denmark is fleshed out with an account of the production and reception of Poul Henningsen’s seminal film Danmark (1935), and the international context is accounted for with an overview of the development of state-supported filmmaking in the UK, Italy and Germany. Developments in the funding and output of Dansk Kulturfilm up to World War II are outlined, followed by an account of the impact of the German Occupation of Denmark on domestic informational film. The establishment of the Danish Government Film Committee or Ministeriernes Filmudvalg kick-started aprofessionalisation of state-sponsored filmmaking, and two wartime public information films are briefly analysed as examples of its early output. The chapter concludes with an account of the relations between the Danish Resistance and an emerging generation of documentarists.

FBI and Religion

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interdisciplinary Assessment ◽  
Civic Religion ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

This volume is an interdisciplinary assessment of the relationship between religion and the FBI. We recount the history of the FBI’s engagement with multiple religious communities and with aspects of public or “civic” religion such as morality and respectability. The book presents new research to explain roughly the history of the FBI’s interaction with religion over approximately one century, from the pre-Hoover period to the post-9/11 era. Along the way, the book explores vexed issues that go beyond the particulars of the FBI’s history—the juxtaposition of “religion” and “cult,” the ways in which race can shape the public’s perceptions of religion (and vica versa), the challenges of mediating between a religious orientation and a secular one, and the role and limits of academic scholarship as a way of addressing the differing worldviews of the FBI and some of the religious communities it encounters.

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