Medical Research Archives
January 1, 2025
Mustafa Zaman, Aseel Aljeshi, Kuragamage Kuraga et al.
1 citation
Recreational drug use now involves opioids, hallucinogens, and cannabinoids, whose psychoactive properties can lead to addiction, withdrawal, and serious health complications. Cannabinoid addiction is linked to endocannabinoid system dysregulation, causing physical dependence, mental health issues, and cognitive impairment. Opioid abuse has become a public health emergency, with withdrawal marked by intense psychological and autonomic symptoms. Hallucinogens like LSD and PCP alter neurotransmission and can cause neurotoxicity, lasting perceptual abnormalities, and mental illness. Pharmacological treatments such as opioid agonists and cannabinoid receptor modulators show promise, but long-term recovery remains difficult. Comprehensive treatment combining pharmacotherapy, psychosocial interventions, and harm reduction is essential to reduce the global burden of recreational drug abuse.
Medical Research Archives
January 1, 2026
Abdullah Alabdulgader
Psychedelics increase functional integration across brain networks while weakening self-referential processing, but current brain-centered interpretations rely on hemodynamic imaging that measures slow metabolic changes rather than rapid electrical activity. This perspective argues that psychedelic neuroscience may be approaching a conceptual boundary similar to past paradigm shifts. Evidence from electrophysiology, neurocardiology, and interoception suggests psychedelic states may involve reorganization of whole-body coherence extending beyond the brain, particularly through cardiac electromagnetic fields and heart-brain coupling. The Alabdulgader Heart-Based Resonant Field Theory proposes consciousness emerges from dynamic resonance among neural, cardiac, autonomic, and bioelectromagnetic systems. Future research should adopt multimodal methods including EEG, MEG, cardiac electrophysiology, and measures of brain-heart coupling.
Medical Research Archives
January 1, 2025
Matthew Halma, Joseph Varón, Sirjana Dhillon et al.
Psychedelic therapies show promise for conditions like PTSD, depression, and substance use disorders, but their success heavily depends on the facilitator and the setting. The field remains outside mainstream medicine and faces stigma from historical prohibition, despite positive trial results. For addiction medicine, facilitators often lack skills to manage substance abstinence. This review offers a clinical guide for managing opioid withdrawal symptoms after psychedelic use, aiming to provide a safer transition for people with opioid use disorder. Several herbal substances—corydalis, saffron, berberine, and nigella sativa—may help ease opioid withdrawal and contribute to addressing the opioid crisis.
Medical Research Archives
January 1, 2024
Daniel Kleinloog
Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, produces antidepressant effects through the glutamatergic system and neuroplasticity, which can be enhanced when combined with psychotherapy. The dissociative state induced by ketamine should be viewed not as a side effect but as an opportunity for psychotherapeutic intervention. Augmenting psychotherapy with subanesthetic doses of ketamine yields a synergistic effect that increases and prolongs improvements in depressive symptoms, general well-being, and quality of life.