{"id":53205,"date":"2025-07-10T04:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T04:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53205\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T04:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T04:38:11","slug":"psilocybin-shows-promise-as-anti-aging-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53205\/","title":{"rendered":"Psilocybin Shows Promise as Anti-Aging Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Summary: <\/strong>Psilocybin, the active compound derived from psychedelic mushrooms, significantly delayed cellular aging and extended lifespan in a preclinical study. Researchers observed a 50% increase in the lifespan of human skin and lung cells and a 30% increase in survival in aged mice treated with psilocybin.<\/p>\n<p>The compound appeared to reduce oxidative stress, preserve telomeres, and improve DNA repair, all key to slowing aging. These findings suggest psilocybin may one day enhance not just lifespan but also quality of life in aging populations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cellular Longevity:<\/strong> Psilocybin extended the lifespan of human cells by over 50%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improved Aging in Mice:<\/strong> Treated aged mice lived 30% longer with healthier physical traits.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mechanisms Identified:<\/strong> Benefits linked to reduced stress, DNA repair, and telomere preservation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong>Emory University<\/p>\n<p><strong>As revenues from the anti-aging market\u2013 riddled with hope and thousands of supplements\u2013\u2013 surged past $500 million last year, Emory University researchers identified a compound that actively delays aging in cells and organisms.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A newly published study in\u00a0Nature Partner Journals\u2019\u00a0Aging\u00a0demonstrates that\u00a0psilocin, a byproduct of consuming psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms,\u00a0extended the cellular lifespan of human skin and lung cells by more than 50%.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In parallel, researchers also conducted the first long-term\u00a0in vivo\u00a0study evaluating the systemic effects of psilocybin in aged mice of 19 months, or the equivalent of 60\u201365 human years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Results indicated that the mice that received an initial low dose of psilocybin of 5 mg, followed by a monthly high dose of 15 mg for 10 months, had a 30% increase in survival compared to mice that\u00a0did not\u00a0receive any. These mice also displayed healthier physical features, such as improved fur quality, fewer white hairs and hair regrowth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While traditionally researched for its mental health benefits, this study suggests that psilocybin impacts multiple hallmarks of aging by reducing oxidative stress, improving DNA repair responses, and preserving telomere length.<\/p>\n<p>Telomeres\u00a0are the structured ends of a chromosome, protecting it from damage that could lead to the formation of age-related diseases, such as cancer, neurodegeneration, or cardiovascular disease.\u00a0These foundational processes influence human aging and the onset of these chronic diseases.<\/p>\n<p>The study concludes that psilocybin may have the potential to revolutionize anti-aging therapies and could be an impactful intervention in an aging population.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost cells in the body express serotonin receptors, and this study opens a new frontier for how psilocybin could influence systemic aging processes, particularly when administered later in life,\u201d says Louise Hecker, PhD, senior author on the study, and former associate professor at Emory University, where the research was initiated and funded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While much of what researchers know about psilocybin relates to the brain, few studies have examined its systemic impacts. Many people associate psilocybin with the hallucinogenic impacts, but the majority of the cells in the body express serotonin receptors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur study opens new questions about what long-term treatments can do. Additionally, even when the intervention is initiated late in life in mice, it still leads to improved survival,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>which is\u00a0clinically relevant in healthy aging,\u201d adds Hecker, currently an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This news comes on the heels of KFF\u2019s\u00a0recent report\u00a0that U.S. life expectancy is still below that of other countries similar in income and size, with an average lifespan of 78.4 years, compared to 82.5 years elsewhere. Not only was it the lowest, but as the lifespan in similar countries increased by 7.9 years from 1980-2022, whereas\u00a0the U.S. life expectancy has only increased by 4.7 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis study provides strong preclinical evidence that psilocybin may contribute to healthier aging\u2013 not just a longer lifespan, but a better quality of life in later years,\u201d says Director of Psychedelic Research at Emory University\u2019s Department of Psychiatry Ali John Zarrabi, MD.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a palliative care physician-scientist, one of my biggest concerns is prolonging life at the cost of dignity and function. But these mice weren\u2019t just surviving longer\u2014they experienced better aging,\u201d adds Zarrabi, co-investigator of the study.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Zarrabi emphasized the importance of further research in older adults, as well as the well-documented overlap between physical and mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmory is actively involved in Phase II and III clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression, and these results suggest we also need to understand psilocybin\u2019s systemic effects in aging populations,\u201d says Zarrabi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy hope is\u00a0also\u00a0that if psilocybin-assisted therapy is approved\u00a0as an intervention for depression by the FDA in 2027, then having a better quality of life would also translate into a longer, healthier life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Funding: <\/strong>The study was initiated at Emory University and funded by several awards, including the Imagine, Innovative, and Impact (I3) Award, Emory University School of Medicine; the Georgia CTSA NIH Award; and a grant from Emory\u2019s Woodruff Health Sciences Center for Health in Aging.<\/p>\n<p>About this psychopharmacology and longevity research news<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Author: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#ed818c9f8cc39ac38082829f88ad8880829f94c3888998\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lara Moore<\/a><br \/><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/emory.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Emory University<\/a><br \/><strong>Contact: <\/strong>Lara Moore \u2013 Emory University<br \/><strong>Image: <\/strong>The image is credited to Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Original Research: <\/strong>Open access.<br \/>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41514-025-00244-x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice\u201d<\/a> by Louise Hecker et al. npj Aging<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by hallucinogenic mushrooms, has received attention due to considerable clinical evidence for its therapeutic potential to treat various psychiatric and neurodegenerative indications.<\/p>\n<p>However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain enigmatic, and few studies have explored its systemic impacts.<\/p>\n<p>We provide the first experimental evidence that psilocin (the active metabolite of psilocybin) treatment extends cellular lifespan and psilocybin treatment promotes increased longevity in aged mice, suggesting that psilocybin may be a potent geroprotective agent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: Psilocybin, the active compound derived from psychedelic mushrooms, significantly delayed cellular aging and extended lifespan in a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1081,827,39647,210,4270,829,831,26121,39648,39649,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-53205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-aging","9":"tag-brain-research","10":"tag-emory-university","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-longevity","13":"tag-neurobiology","14":"tag-neuroscience","15":"tag-psilocybin","16":"tag-psychedelics","17":"tag-psychopharmacology","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114827093913918495","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}