LET'S TALK PLANT MEDICINE: Cannabis, Psychedelics & Pharmaceutics with Dr. O

Today's guest is Dr. Brooke Worster a Cancer Pain Management Doctor at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia and a cannabis researcher with Thomas Jefferson University. Her research interests focus on improving the quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. 

This includes both the impact, risks, and benefits of cannabis compared to other prescription pharmacotherapy for pain and other burdensome symptoms as well as how to quantify and maximize the benefits of team-based interprofessional interactions for patients and their families. 

Lumenate is a pioneering app that uses sound and light to change brain rhythms in ways similar to psychedelics and highly experienced meditators, and brain imaging researchers at Imperial College London and as well as researchers in Berlin. 

Our guests have talked about what psychedelic experiences and Lumenate appear to have in common. They talked about Increased brain signal complexity, reduced activity in the default mode network, increased functional connectivity between different brain regions, and reductions in peak alpha brainwaves. 

They have ongoing trials underway in London which "aims to uncover neural mechanisms of visual imagery induced by Lumenate, using high-density EEG. The research also aims at comparing psychedelic experiences induced by DMT and Lumenate, by exploring the psychological and biological mechanisms of both altered states of consciousness”.

Dr. Cornblatt is a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Graduate with a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences Division of Toxicology.

Dr. Cornblatt has served as Director of Consumer Clinical Research and Science and as Medical Director at Nutramax Laboratories Consumer Care, Inc. In this role, Dr. Cornblatt developed novel nutraceutical formulations, designed both in vitro and clinical studies in support of products, and summarized both supporting laboratory and clinical research for healthcare workers and consumers.

 His most recent development has been a novel line of products (and 18 related clinical trials) that deliver the essential ingredients needed to support the production of sulforaphane, a phytochemical with many emerging indications. Dr. Cornblatt is also the inventor of three issued patents and four pending provisional patents focused on plant-based bioactive compounds and health promotion.

Silo Pharma merges traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research to develop innovative solutions that address a variety of underserved conditions including Alzheimer’s, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), as well as stress-induced psychiatric disorders (i.e. PTSD) and other debilitating chronic conditions. We talk about the research and the conditions you choose to study in conjunction with psychedelic treatment. 

Silo has partnered with several leading academic institutions (the University of California, San Francisco, Columbia University, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore) to facilitate a streamlined regulatory pathway for drug approval. The company has developed a pipeline of proprietary licensed therapeutics that show promise for a range of illnesses and diseases.

Silo Pharma Inc. has begun dosing in its IND-enabling study of a proprietary time-released, topical formulation of ketamine SP-26 designed to treat fibromyalgia. The safety evaluation trial will be conducted by Experimur, a Frontage Company, and intends to evaluate the tolerability of SP-26 to establish a maximum dose in the treatment of this chronic medical condition causing widespread musculoskeletal pain as well as memory issues, sleep difficulties, and fatigue.

Steven Twohig has been studying an abundance of practices extensively, including mindfulness, business optimization, shadow work and facilitation, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), hypnotherapy, and leadership dynamics. He recently has been researching psychedelic integration, which is defined as a process in which the patient integrates the insights of their experience into their life, and PHRI is a method of supporting that in the clinical consultation room.

On Steven's website for Mastering Change, he wrote: “miscoding deep in the human mind. This coding is the root cause of all suffering in the world. By doing your shadow work, you are doing the work necessary to change the world. Everything in this reality is a reflection of everything else. If above, so below. So within, so without. You are a reflection of your outside world, just like this world is a reflection of you.” Steven expands on this and much more in today's episode. 

Blake Pearson has been internationally recognized for his work in cannabis medicine and efforts to legitimize cannabinoid therapy as a safer alternative to opioids and anti-psychotic drugs. He has helped improve your patients’ symptoms with cannabinoid medicine and has been able to reduce the anti-psychotics.

Dr. Blake recently announced the start of a new research study into the impact of cannabinoid therapy on local residents with dementia. He has partnered with Lambton College and Steeves & Rozema Nursing Homes for a three-year, $360,000 research grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). 

We discuss how Dr. Blake feels that this new study is not about healing or halting dementia. It’s about managing the behaviors associated with the disease — such as mood, calling out, agitation, and trouble sleeping.

Blake wrote on his blog about a new placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial out of Israel published to evaluate the safety and efficacy of broad-spectrum CBD-dominant medical cannabis oil for the reduction of behavioral disturbances amongst patients with dementia. They found a statistically significant reduction in agitation over placebo with non-serious side effects. 

The Stanley brothers celebrate the ten-year anniversary of providing their high-CBD and low-THC full-spectrum hemp formula to Charlotte Figi after her pediatrician supplied written permission. We talk about how Joel reflects on the help you were able to give Charlotte and how the industry as a whole has grown in the last decade. On April 7th 2020, after the unfortunate passing of Charlotte Figi, the Governor of California officially declared April 7th to be 'Charlotte Figi Day' in Colorado. Joel honors that day with the Charlotte Figi Family Grant Program to help health-seeking families with qualified needs. 

We dive into how Charlotte’s memory continues to motivate his work. He has been working on combining nature and technology or in other words ancestral health for tomorrow. Joel expands on what he has been working on these days. Joel and his company are now working on Stanley Brothers USA, a cannabis wellness incubator currently operating in three states (Colorado, California, and Florida) with expansion plans underway in eight additional states. 

Joseph and his brother Chris are experts on both functional and psychedelic mushrooms and their health benefits, as well as biohacking and cognitive wellness. They've witnessed first-hand the effects that mushrooms had while they used them to treat their father, and using mushrooms yourselves. With that, we talk about Joseph and Chris's grandfather who had succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease and their father suffered from the same fate. Then they discovered they were next after genetic tests showed they had the strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer's (ApoE4). So we talk about some of the work they have done to avoid this potential genetic outcome. 

Joseph and Chris discovered the potential of mushrooms to improve brain function and structure against aging. They created First Person to introduce more people to the power of functional mushrooms. Their products have been formulated to avoid serotonin receptors, so they may work both independently and as a highly effective complement to existing psychedelic micro-dosing protocols. 

Dr. Salzman is a physician, scientist, inventor, and biomedical entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in biomedical drug discovery and development. He has authored 175 peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds 60 patents in the fields of medicine, pharmacology, organic chemistry, and medical devices. Dr. Salzman has received continuous National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding since 1993, authoring 75 federal grants and receiving $160 million in federal grant and contract funding. 

He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School after completing undergraduate training at Yale College. Dr. Salzman completed his pediatric internship and residency at Columbia University, and post-doctoral fellowships in pediatric critical care, neonatal critical care, immunology, mucosal physiology, and pediatric infectious disease at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Boston Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Beth Israel Hospital Medical Center.

Innovation1 Biotech Inc. is a small molecule drug discovery company focused on the clinical development of modified Schedule 1 molecules of botanical origin, where there is the opportunity to create breakthrough advances in diseases of unmet medical need. The Company’s portfolio includes five proprietary, fully synthetic preclinical prodrugs addressing independent clinical indications: a mushroom-derived psychedelic molecule for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a novel cannabinoid and tree bark-derived psychedelic for treatment of addiction, and three additional novel cannabinoid prodrugs addressing clinical indications of refractory pediatric epilepsy, hypertrophic scarring after burn wound injury, and ocular inflammation of the cornea and anterior uvea. Innovation1 also owns a currently approved nutraceutical complex specially designed and formulated to contribute to and help maintain normal energy metabolism, improve mood, and reduce fatigue for those suffering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Today on Let's Talk Plant Medicine With Dr. O we talk with the President of F.I.V.E., Victoria Wueschner. Victoria's team recently launched F.I.V.E. this summer as the first educational platform designed to help individuals make informed decisions when choosing to work with 5-MeO-DMT. Kaivalya Kollectiv, the parent company of F.I.V.E has been offering professionally guided experiences with synthetic 5-MeO-DMT. 5-MeO-DMT is called The God Molecule because it facilitates full-blown mystical experiences, including an alleged communion with some higher-order, divine consciousness. It is the most powerful psychedelic on the planet.

The F.I.V.E website states: “As the psychedelic renaissance continues to expand, 5-MeO-DMT is quickly growing in popularity. In the current 5-MeO-DMT landscape, it is becoming increasingly important for everyone, including first-time seekers of this compound, seasoned psychonauts, and even facilitators, to have access to the resources needed to cultivate safe and effective experiences.” Victoria's company also operates Tandava Retreats, a 5-MeO-DMT retreat center in Tepoztlan, Mexico, whose staff has served over 2,000 guests since 2016. Many of those seekers are seeking a healthier state of mind, personal growth, and improved relationships with themselves, including but not limited to entrepreneurs, artists, and everyday people seeking a deeper connection with themselves. 

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