LSD - the
next breakthrough in psychiatric treatment?
Yes, this really happened.
http://neurodiversity.com/library_bender_1962a.html
LSD-25 Helps Schizophrenic Children
L. Bender, L. Goldschmidt, D.V. Siva
American Druggist, 146 (13):33, 1962
.pdf version
Drug improves behavior patterns in preliminary tests; UML-491 also
found effective
A powerful serotonin-inhibiting drug, known by the code name LSD-25,
has shown beneficial results in a group of schizophrenic children in
preliminary tests.
Drs. Lauretta Bender, Lothar Goldschmidt, and D. V. Siva Sankar, of
Creedmoor State Hospital, Queens, N.Y., report in Recent Advances in
Biological Psychiatry that they used the drug on 14 withdrawn
schizophrenic children under the age of 11. The 2 oldest boys, over 10
years old and at or near puberty, reacted with disturbed anxious
behavior and were dropped from the study.
The 12 other children showed improved behavioral patterns when the
drug was administered intramuscularly and orally. the doctors report.
The disturbed youngsters appeared to be in an elevated or "high" mood
following administration of LSD-25. They were gay and playful and
accepted contact with an adult in their tentative. teasing. playful
activities. which included ball playing, paper tearing. motor play,
rhythmic hand clapping. and body swaying. The physicians further note
that the children appeared flushed and bright eyed, and unusually
interested in their environment.
According to the researchers, the might of the reaction to LSD
occurred about a half hour after administration of the drug and
persisted for 2 or 3 hours.
Oral Dose: After several experiments in which the drug showed these
results on an intramuscular dosage of 25 mg. the physicians switched
to oral administration and increased the dosage to 100 mg once a week
early in the morning. Then the dosage was gradually increased to twice
or three times a week as no untoward side effects were noticed. and
the favorable reaction to the drug persisted. Finally, the drug was
given daily and was continued for about 6 weeks.
The physicians conclude from the experiment that:
* LSD-25 produced some mild degree of favorable response with slow
and steady progression in the severely disturbed children.
* The drug did not produce any severe side effects, toxicity, or
untoward responses.
* The children were generally happier; their mood was "high" in
the hours following ingestion of the drug.
* The drug reduced the children's former hostility.
* Physical condition of the children tended to improve.
UML-491: The physicians also report later experiments along the same
lines with a methylated derivative of LSD, known by the code name UML-491.
Preliminary experiments with 8 withdrawn schizophrenic children, given
8 mg of UML-491 in 4 divided doses daily, showed somewhat similar
results to those which had previously been obtained with LSD.
The 3 researchers note that both LSD and UML. which are derivatives of
dilysergic acid, have thus far been used only experimentally in
schizophrenic children in the hope that more effective therapeutic
derivatives will be discovered in the future.
Both drugs were supplied by Sandoz, which also stresses the
preliminary nature of the experiments, pointing out that many more
studies will have to be made before these drugs can be accepted for
large-scale use in schizophrenic children.
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