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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Science
Hannah Harris Green

Ayahuasca psychedelic DMT shows promise as depression therapy

Woman drinks potion
A woman drinks ayahuasca during a ceremony in La Mesa, Colombia. Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

A phase II clinical trial has found dimethyltryptamine (DMT), one of the psychoactive components traditionally used in the Amazonian psychedelic ritual ayahuasca, might be a promising therapy for depression.

The psychedelic pharmaceutical company Small Pharma (now Cybin UK) sponsored and designed the trial, which was led by Dr David Erritzoe, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Imperial College London. The results were published in Nature this month.

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