Latest news with #magicmushrooms
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Ex-pilot who tried shutting off engines says he "had no intention of crashing" plane
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot indicted for trying to shut off a passenger jet's engines mid-flight in 2023 recalled the scary moment he slipped out of reality after eating "magic mushrooms." Former airline captain Joseph Emerson said he takes full responsibility for the night in October 2023 that changed his life. "I had no intention of crashing an actual airplane. I wanted to wake up. I was convinced I wasn't going home to my wife and kids," he said in an interview that aired on "CBS Mornings" on Thursday. At the time, Emerson said he had been grieving the death of his best friend and first turned to alcohol before experimenting with the psychedelic drug. Two days after trying so-called 'magic mushrooms' for the first time, he boarded Alaska Air Flight 2059 as a passenger from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. It was a full flight, with 83 other passengers and crew on board, so he was given the cockpit jump seat behind the pilot and first officer. "Most consequential three seconds of my life" Suddenly, he said he felt a sense of "all-out panic and fear" on the plane as the drugs altered his perception of reality. "You're not going home. You need to wake up. That's when I acted. I pulled the handles that were in front of my face," Emerson recalled thinking as he pulled the handles that cut off fuel to the engines in the event of a fire. While in the apparent dissociative state, Emerson said he didn't realize the serious consequences of his actions. "I mean, in the dream, in that dissociative state, I thought they were going to wake me up. It didn't wake me up, right? I was in reality. I know that now. You know, it's the most consequential three seconds of my life," Emerson said. The flight was diverted and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. He's set to be arraigned next month on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew, and faces a host of state charges including 83 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and one felony count of first-degree endangering aircraft. The case reignited the conversation about barriers facing pilots when it comes to their mental health. Pilots' mental health Disclosing mental health issues can lead to a pilot being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration, putting their ability to work at risk for an extended period of time, possibly lasting years. A 2022 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimated 56% of pilots avoid seeking medical care due to fear of losing their certification to fly. "I came to an understanding, or a misunderstanding, that I needed to be perfect on paper. I needed to show up and appear perfect, no matter what else was going on for me," Emerson said. The National Transportation Safety Board has since held a first of its kind pilot mental health forum to review existing pilot mental health rules. The FAA also launched a review of policies – both calling for changes to address barriers to care. "We need to have a system that allows people to be more forthcoming and to have treatment for issues that shouldn't keep you out of the cockpit," then-FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said months after the incident, in December 2023. The FAA review committee made 24 recommendations. Illinois Rep. Sean Casten and Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber are leading an effort in Congress to enact reforms within two years, introducing the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act to help pilots and air traffic controllers get access to mental health care and hire additional medical examiners. "The goal really simply is to make our skies safer and make our pilots safer. That's it," Casten told "CBS Mornings." The bill would also require the FAA to annually review and update the process related to mental health-related special issuance of medical certificates to pilots and air traffic controllers, set aside 13.74 million dollars a year for the next three years to hire additional certified Aviation Medical Examiners, and authorize a three year $4.5 million dollar public information campaign aimed at destigmatizing mental health care among pilots and air traffic controllers. "Our pilots and air traffic controllers are not going to lose their job when they ask for help. We in this country must recognize that that's strength. And they're not to be punished. We're going to help them, process them, and get them back into cockpits," Stauber added. The bill maintains the FAA's rigorous process for determining a pilot is safe to resume flying but aims to cut red tape and increase transparency. It has unanimously passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month and has the backing of the largest pilot unions. The bill has advanced to the House of Representatives for consideration. The FAA declined to comment on the bill. Emerson says he's been sober since the incident. He and his wife have started a nonprofit, Clear Skies Ahead, aimed at improving pilot health and wellness. "I hope that there are lessons that we can learn from my experience. And that's kind of why I'm talking you today," Emerson said. Son of man who was violently detained by ICE reacts after release Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits southern Alaska Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
Ex-Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut off plane's engines mid-flight relives "most consequential three seconds of my life"
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot indicted for trying to shut off a passenger jet's engines mid-flight in 2023 recalled the scary moment he slipped out of reality after eating "magic mushrooms." Former airline captain Joseph Emerson said he takes full responsibility for the night in October 2023 that changed his life. "I had no intention of crashing an actual airplane. I wanted to wake up. I was convinced I wasn't going home to my wife and kids," he said in an interview that aired on "CBS Mornings" on Thursday. At the time, Emerson said he had been grieving the death of his best friend and first turned to alcohol before experimenting with the psychedelic drug. Two days after trying so-called 'magic mushrooms' for the first time, he boarded Alaska Air Flight 2059 as a passenger from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. It was a full flight, with 83 other passengers and crew on board, so he was given the cockpit jump seat behind the pilot and first officer. Suddenly, he said he felt a sense of "all-out panic and fear" on the plane as the drugs altered his perception of reality. "You're not going home. You need to wake up. That's when I acted. I pulled the handles that were in front of my face," Emerson recalled thinking as he pulled the handles that cut off fuel to the engines in the event of a fire. While in the apparent dissociative state, Emerson said he didn't realize the serious consequences of his actions. "I mean, in the dream, in that dissociative state, I thought they were going to wake me up. It didn't wake me up, right? I was in reality. I know that now. You know, it's the most consequential three seconds of my life," Emerson said. The flight was diverted and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. He's set to be arraigned next month on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew, and faces a host of state charges including 83 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and one felony count of first-degree endangering aircraft. The case reignited the conversation about barriers facing pilots when it comes to their mental health. Disclosing mental health issues can lead to a pilot being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration, putting their ability to work at risk for an extended period of time, possibly lasting years. A 2022 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimated 56% of pilots avoid seeking medical care due to fear of losing their certification to fly. "I came to an understanding, or a misunderstanding, that I needed to be perfect on paper. I needed to show up and appear perfect, no matter what else was going on for me," Emerson said. The National Transportation Safety Board has since held a first of its kind pilot mental health forum to review existing pilot mental health rules. The FAA also launched a review of policies – both calling for changes to address barriers to care. "We need to have a system that allows people to be more forthcoming and to have treatment for issues that shouldn't keep you out of the cockpit," then-FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said months after the incident, in December 2023. The FAA review committee made 24 recommendations. Illinois Rep. Sean Casten and Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber are leading an effort in Congress to enact reforms within two years, introducing the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act to help pilots and air traffic controllers get access to mental health care and hire additional medical examiners. "The goal really simply is to make our skies safer and make our pilots safer. That's it," Casten told "CBS Mornings." The bill would also require the FAA to annually review and update the process related to mental health-related special issuance of medical certificates to pilots and air traffic controllers, set aside 13.74 million dollars a year for the next three years to hire additional certified Aviation Medical Examiners, and authorize a three year $4.5 million dollar public information campaign aimed at destigmatizing mental health care among pilots and air traffic controllers. "Our pilots and air traffic controllers are not going to lose their job when they ask for help. We in this country must recognize that that's strength. And they're not to be punished. We're going to help them, process them, and get them back into cockpits," Stauber added. The bill maintains the FAA's rigorous process for determining a pilot is safe to resume flying but aims to cut red tape and increase transparency. It has unanimously passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month and has the backing of the largest pilot unions. The bill has advanced to the House of Representatives for consideration. The FAA declined to comment on the bill. Emerson says he's been sober since the incident. He and his wife have started a nonprofit, Clear Skies Ahead, aimed at improving pilot health and wellness. "I hope that there are lessons that we can learn from my experience. And that's kind of why I'm talking you today," Emerson said.
Fox News
7 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
The key to living longer could be tied to a surprising substance, study suggests
A new study suggests that psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms, could extend lifespan. Researchers at the Emory University Department of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, discovered that psilocybin extended cellular lifespan and improved survival in aged mice. Psilocybin is the "naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by hallucinogenic mushrooms," as defined in the study. Psilocybin has recently received attention due to "considerable clinical evidence" for its potential in treating various psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions, the researchers noted. The study, published in the journal Nature, uncovered the first experimental evidence that treatment with psilocin – the "active metabolite" in psilocybin – increases longevity in aged mice. This suggests that psilocybin may be a "potent geroprotective agent," the researchers wrote. Co-author Louise Hecker of Emory University said the data suggests psilocybin impacts "multiple hallmarks of aging." This includes reducing oxidative stress levels and preventing DNA damage, also known as preserving "telomere length." (Telomere are DNA-protein structures on the ends of chromosomes, which help to prevent cellular damage.) "Psilocybin appears to slow the 'wear and tear' that accompanies aging," Hecker said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "Mice and cells are healthier and live significantly longer." The treatment led to "a dramatic impact on cellular life extensions" and increased the survival of mice, even when administered later in life, the researcher noted. The mice also appeared healthier, growing back black hair that was once white. "Most of what we know about psilocybin is clinical outcomes and what it does in the brain," Hecker commented. "These studies shed light on the fact that psilocybin has potent impacts on the entire body." As these are the first studies showing the impact of psilocybin on aging, Hecker noted that there is still "much more to learn" about the drug's potential. "What are the optimal dosing protocols for humans? What is the optimal age for treatment initiation for optimal benefits?" Hecker questioned. "Psilocybin appears to slow the 'wear and tear' that accompanies aging." "Is there an age, beyond which point, when treatment does not provide efficacy? Are there potential harms or adverse effects associated with long-term treatment? What are the mechanisms of its action? All these questions need to be rigorously tested." Additional studies are needed to answer these questions and confirm whether treatment impacts lifespan, Hecker noted. Gabe Charambides, founder of Odyssey – America's first legal psilocybin retreat, located in Oregon – said he considers these findings "compelling." "While most human psilocybin trials have focused on mental health outcomes — depression, anxiety, PTSD — this work highlights physiological shifts, including markers of cellular aging," he said in an interview with Fox News Digital. While Charambides' retreat doesn't test for any biological changes, he said that many guests report relief from physical ailments like chronic pain and migraines. "Those self-reports suggest the mind–body effects the study hints at may translate to humans as well," he told Fox News Digital. Administration of psilocybin should differ "sharply" from mice to humans in terms of screening, preparation and safeguards, Charambides noted. Individuals who benefit the most from psilocybin therapy include those who "feel stuck" after significant life events – like childhood trauma, divorce, career upheaval or bereavement – or people who aim to improve their mental health, he added. Ryan Moss, chief science officer at Filament Health, a clinical-stage natural psychedelic drug development company in Canada, has emphasized the importance of administering psychedelics in a safe setting. For more Health articles, visit "Psychedelic experiences can sometimes feature anxiety, hallucinations and paranoia," Moss previously told Fox News Digital. "Some patients using traditional psychedelics have reported experiencing adverse cardiovascular events during clinical trials." To mitigate these risks, Moss recommended that clinical trial participants receive thorough preparation and monitoring by trained professionals during sessions.
Medical News Today
15-07-2025
- Health
- Medical News Today
Slowing aging: Psilocybin helps extend life span in human cells by over 50%
Psilocybin is a chemical that is found in a wide variety of mushrooms known for their euphoric and hallucinogenic effects. Over the past few years, there have been a number of studies investigating the use of psilocybin for the treatment of mental health disorders and medical conditions. A new study says psilocybin may help delay aging by increasing the cellular life span of human skin and lung cells by more than 50%. Scientists also reported evidence psilocybin may help protect the body from age-related diseases through several health-protecting qualities, via a mouse is a chemical that is found in a wide variety of mushrooms. Also known as 'shrooms' and 'magic mushrooms,' psilocybin is known for its euphoric and hallucinogenic effects. Over the past few years, there have been a number of studies investigating the use of psilocybin for the treatment of mental health disorders such as treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use disorders, as well as medical conditions like migraine, Alzheimer's disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and Parkinson's disease. 'The overwhelming majority of what we know about psilocybin is from clinical outcomes (with >150 clinical trials ongoing or completed) and impacts on the brain,' Louise Hecker, PhD, associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, told Medical News Today. 'Psilocybin is well known for its hallucinogenic properties. However, we know very little about what it does otherwise, particularly its impact systemically on the rest of the body.'Hecker is the senior author of a new study recently published in the journal npj Aging that has found indication that psilocybin may help delay aging by increasing the cellular lifespan of human skin and lung cells by more than 50%. Scientists also reported evidence psilocybin may help protect the body from age-related diseases, such as neurodegeneration, heart disease, and cancer through several health-protecting qualities, via a mouse helps extend life in cells by over 50%For this study, researchers first used a cellular aging model of human lung cells to see how psilocin — the active ingredient in mushrooms that causes hallucinogenic effects — would impact them. Scientists reported that psilocin helped to extend the cellular lifespan of human skin and lung cells by more than 50%.'The significance is that psilocin-treated cells do age, however they age at a slower rate, while maintaining the properties of 'young' cells longer,' Hecker, who was an associate professor at Emory University at the time of the study, said. When moving to a mouse model, Hecker and her team also discovered that mice at the equivalent of 60-65 human years given psilocybin lived longer than those who did not receive it. Additionally, these mice displayed healthier features, such as fewer white hairs and hair regrowth.'We designed this experiment with the clinical relevance in mind — wouldn't it be great if we could give an intervention to elderly adults that helps them to live healthier longer?,' Hecker explained. 'Our study suggests that this is possible.'Psilocybin helps maintain telomere length, helping with agingAccording to researchers, their findings suggest that psilocybin assists with slowing aging by reducing oxidative stress, improving DNA repair responses, and maintaining the length of telomeres. Telomeres are the 'end caps' of chromosomes. By helping to preserve telomere lengths, the researchers believe this may help protect the body from age-related diseases like heart disease, neurodegeneration, and cancer. 'Psilocybin appears to reduce the 'wear and tear' that accompanies aging. Although psilocybin is well-known for its psychedelic effects, our study suggests that psilocybin has potent impacts on the entire body. Psilocybin holds great potential for promoting healthy aging — this is just the starting point, as much more research is needed.'— Louise Hecker, PhD'We need to better understand its mechanisms of action, in particular how it works outside the brain to impact systemic aging and other processes,' Hecker said. 'More research is needed to optimize dosing/frequency protocols as well as monitor for the potential of adverse effects before it is ready to be used clinically as an anti-aging agent.'More studies needed to translate findings to humansMNT spoke with Jack Jacoub, MD, a board certified medical oncologist and medical director of MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Orange Coast and Saddleback Medical Centers in Orange County, CA, about this study. 'Cell aging is a key feature to overall health and illnesses and cancer,' Jacoub said. 'And so there's a lot of therapies now that are looking at things like senescence, which is normal cell aging, how to slow it down, and how to repair the damage that happens with aging. Sometimes issues related to cancer are due to the inability to repair damage, and it becomes a cancerous cell.' Jacoub commented that while this was a very interesting and notable observational study, it's a big leap right now to say these findings will translate to human illnesses, including cancer. 'It's too general right now to say anti-aging — that's an incredible umbrella. For it to really make an impact, and for you to see it available and recommended, it's going to need to be advanced further, obviously in humans, but then in particular areas to be able to say, yes, there really is merit to this, we should be recommending this to patients, etc.' — Jack Jacoub, MD'Like for example, could it help repair injury quickly?,' Jacoub continued. 'That would be (an) interesting thing to observe and study. And so let's say it's stroke patients, heart attack patients, whatever it might be — is there some role there to use it and accelerate healing from events like that? (And) a good one would be cellular repair. Can you recover and heal faster if you took this? That would be an example of it.'
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Evidence Grows That Tripping on Shrooms Might Increase Your Lifespan
In a new study, scientists have uncovered evidence that magic mushrooms just might be an effective anti-aging treatment. Published in the Nature Partnering Journal Aging, a new paper by researchers at Emory and Baylor's medical schools suggests that psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms — there are a range of species that produce it, but the best known is probably Pisolocybe cubensis — might extend the lifespans of both mice and potentially humans. The two-part study tested medium-sized doses of psilocybin on older mice, and later introduced similar amounts of the compound to human cells to see how it affected their telomeres, which shorten as organisms grow older and are viewed as a hallmark of aging. In both the mice and the human cells — half of which were fetal lung cells, the other half from adult skin — the introduction of psilocybin was linked to preserved telomere length. In other words, the study appears to show that telomeres shortened more slowly after being given psilocybin than they would have without, and that mushrooms may increase cellular lifespan. In addition to the telomere findings, the researchers also noted that the psilocybin-treated mice showed increased survival skills and had "improvements in overall fur quality," which may suggest further anti-aging properties as well. According to Louise Hecker, a Baylor medical and cardiovascular researcher and the senior author of the paper, she and her colleagues were compelled to look into the potential lifespan-enhancing effects of psilocybin because, for the most part, it hasn't really been studied directly. "The overwhelming majority of what we know about psilocybin is how it impacts the brain," Hecker said in a press release about the study. "Our findings suggest that psilocybin has potent effects on the entire body, including antiaging properties, which also may contribute to the plethora of observed beneficial clinical outcomes." However, some previous research has suggested that psychedelic drugs could be linked to positive health outcomes. A study in 2021, for instance, found that people who used hallucinogenic drugs including psilocybin, LSD and mescaline had a lower risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Some other studies suggest that people who have periodically used psychedelics recreationally are less likely to be overweight or obese. While Hecker's colleague and paper coauthor Kosuke Kato urged caution when establishing a causal link between shrooms and increased lifespan, he pointed to the results in the aged mice as perhaps the most important part of the research. "This is a very exciting and clinically relevant finding that suggests that even when [psychedelic] intervention is initiated late in life, it can have dramatic impacts," Kato said in the press release. While there's "still a lot to understand, including optimal dosing protocols that will lead to maximal efficacy," Kato said that further study will hopefully help researchers and medical practitioners alike figure out how psilocybin treatment can work. Hecker, meanwhile, enthused that her team's findings "open an exciting new chapter in psychedelic research" — a field that's already shown lots of promise in recent years when looking into the ways these drugs can help with mental illness and dementia. "Psilocybin may represent a disruptive agent that promotes healthy aging," she said. "The next steps need to explore the therapeutic effects across multiple age-related diseases." More on psychedelics: People Are Taking Massive Doses of Psychedelic Drugs and Using AI as a Tripsitter
