INVESTIGATIONS BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
The two great pharmacies are the jungle and the human organism.
Short texts extracted from the book: “Ayahuasca, the inner journey” (Marisol Torres and Alberto Varela, Punto de Mira Editorial).
More than twenty-five percent of the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry is based on biologically active chemicals obtained from the rainforest. A large part of these, with molecular structures that are so complex that they can not be synthesised industrially, are found in the rainforest. So in a way the forests are the evolutionary archive of the planet, and they are vital for humanity.
Currently, more than two hundred pharmaceutical companies hire anthropologists and pharmacologists who live with indigenous tribes and learn from their healers and shamans about how to use which plants to and the diseases they can be applied. More than a quarter of the drugs sold in pharmacies have active ingredients extracted or derived from plants and more than 74% of these ingredients were discovered by indigenous peoples. Of the estimated 250,000 plant species on Earth, the medicinal power of only less than 1% has been investigated (Farnsworth, 1988, Eisner, 1992, Elisabetsky, 1991).
Pharmaceutical companies seek this practical knowledge. Recently an extract of the shrub Pilocarpus jaborandi, used by the indigenous Kayapo and Guajajara (Brazil) was transformed into a pharmaceutical product for the treatment of glaucoma by the multinational Merck that was launched as Tafluprost.
AYAHUASCA AND ITS COMPARATIVE EFFECTS FOR DEPRESSION AGAINST OTHER CHEMICAL DRUGS:
New research findings with Ayahuasca. From the improvement of attention skills to the promotion of neurogenesis: new findings about the therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca.
Conference by Jordi Riba (Doctor, scientist and researcher)
“Ayahuasca induces an introspective state of consciousness during which people experience emotionally charged autobiographical memories in the form of visions,” Riba explains. “As a result, people often get new ideas about painful issues such as traumatic events, which facilitates overcoming them. We have evidence of individuals with very serious addiction problems who were able to give up cocaine and opiates after a series of Ayahuasca sessions. ”
Although there is nothing new in this, and the ability of Ayahuasca to promote emotional regulation has been recognized and exploited by the Amazonian communities for centuries, Riba’s research uses neuroimaging techniques to take a step deeper: “Under Ayahuasca, in the visual areas of the brain and also in the regions involved in the processing of memories and emotions.”
Looking beyond the immediate visionary effects of Ayahuasca, the Beckley/Sant Pau team is now focusing its attention on the much talked about “glow” that accompanies psychedelic experiences, which often lasts several days or weeks.” This period has traditionally been considered a window of opportunity for psycho-therapeutic intervention, and now we have the neuroimaging data that supports this claim,” says Riba. “We have found that during this glow, the interaction between brain areas associated with the sense of self are more connected to other regions that process autobiographical memories and emotions,” he explains. In particular, a brain network called the default network, which processes aspects of the personality as self-consciousness, becomes less closely linked and more interconnected with the rest of the brain immediately after drinking Ayahuasca. Significantly, this alteration in brain connectivity was found to correlate with an increase in certain traits associated with mindfulness. According to Riba, “mindfulness capabilities are reduced in many forms of psychopathology,” suggesting that the Ayahuasca glow may be the key to treating a range of disorders. A study conducted as part of the Beckley/Sant Pau Research Programme revealed that a single dose of Ayahuasca produces what Riba describes as “a very rapid antidepressant effect that lasts for weeks.” This is particularly noticeable when compared to traditional antidepressant drugs, which usually need to be taken for about a month before any clinical improvement is observed.
VISIONARY PROPERTIES IN ANIMALS, VEGETABLES AND HUMANS.
DMT, the spirit molecule:
“In 1965, a German team of researchers announced in the journal Nature that they had been able to isolate DMT from human blood. In subsequent investigations, DMT has been classified as the “first endogenous human psychedelic”, since it is not only found in nature, but is also produced by our own body.
The alkaloid molecule N, N-Dimethyltryptamine, DMT, is found in all plants and animals on the planet, to a greater or lesser concentration, and has profound effects on consciousness, which causes mystical experiences. Chemically, DMT is similar to serotonin and meets all the conditions of a neurotransmitter. It occurs in the human brain, in the pineal gland or epiphysis, in very small quantities.
The visionary substance par excellence would be the dmt: key to access unconscious personal contents and the universe of “other realities”, which some call dmtverso. It might be assumed that the most important plant for the Amazonian peoples is one which provides the visions, such as peyote, the San Pedro cactus or mushrooms from other areas that make visions a central part of their worldview. But it’s not like that; the plant par excellence is the Ayahuasca, which in biochemical terms only has the function of allowing dmt to reach the level of the brain to produce psychoactive effects. Dennis McKenna, G.H.N. Towers and F.S. Abbott (1984)
It seems, and is what is slowly being demonstrated in scientific studies, that the GLOW produced by endogenous DMT that is activated by those small amounts that contain Ayahuasca is what activates the healing abilities of the human organism itself, which has the most sophisticated natural pharmacy but that is not used as it is inaccessible and under the darkness of unconsciousness. These “visions” that give access to “other realities” are not only of the beyond, but are above all what is here inside each one of us as a hidden and still unused treasure.
The intimate relationship between health and consciousness is starting to be more than obvious.
IN THE COVER IMAGE: VALTER BISIO, PREPARING AYAHUASCA IN OUR HOSTEL LOCATED IN THE COLOMBIAN JUNGLE. HE IS ITALIAN, AN EXPERT IN AMAZONIAN PLANTS, LIVES 50% OF HIS TIME IN THE JUNGLE AND TRAVELS TO SHARE HIS KNOWLEDGE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WITH INNER MASTERY INTERNATIONAL. HE IS NOW IN ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY, HE WILL ACCOMPANY ALBERTO VARELA IN THE PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK IN BUENOS AIRES, CÓRDOBA AND MONTEVIDEO.
To participate in conferences, workshops and retreats: