Publications by authors named "Rucker J"

Background: Treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain limited, and cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) provide promise in addressing inflammation and pain. However, long-term data on CBMP efficacy in IBD are scarce. This study examines health-related quality of life (HRQoL) changes in IBD patients treated with CBMPs.

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Background: There has been a resurgence of research into the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for neuropsychiatric disorders. Classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, exert complex effects on higher cognitive functions such as perception and awareness, but their impact on motor function remains unexplored. Moreover, there is a theoretical rationale for using psychedelics to promote motor retraining in certain neuropsychiatric conditions associated with motor dysfunction.

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Article Synopsis
  • Psychedelic drugs are being studied for potential treatment of depression and other disorders, but there are concerns about their psychiatric side effects, which are hard to assess due to the informal nature of existing literature.
  • A review of case reports identified 17 instances each of schizophrenia-spectrum and affective disorders after psychedelic use, with some developing after just one use; recovery was common for affective disorders but rare for schizophrenia.
  • Flashbacks were observed in some cases, with psychiatric symptoms like anxiety and depression sometimes persisting beyond the episodes, although about half showed resolution within a year.
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Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common mental health condition. The endocannabinoid system has become a focus for new therapies, increasing interest in cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs). This study uses data from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR) to investigate real-world outcomes and safety of different CBMP formulations in GAD patients.

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Psychedelic drugs have seen a resurgence in interest as a next generation of psychiatric medicines with potential as rapid-acting antidepressants (RAADs). Despite promising early clinical trials, the mechanisms which underlie the effects of psychedelics are poorly understood. For example, key questions such as whether antidepressant and psychedelic effects involve related or independent mechanisms are unresolved.

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Background: Psychedelic drugs are increasingly visible in society once more, but their risks and adverse effects have received less attention than perhaps they should. While fatalities associated with psychedelics appear rare, a systematic approach to characterising their aetiology is required to inform harm minimisation efforts.

Aims: This study aimed to analyse prevalence and characteristics of psychedelic-related deaths in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, between 1997 and 2022.

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This cohort study aims to assess the outcomes of fibromyalgia patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry prescribed a homogenous selection of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs). A cohort study of fibromyalgia patients treated with oils (Adven, Curaleaf International, UK), dried flower (Adven, Curaleaf International, UK) or both CBMPs was performed. Primary outcomes were changes from baseline at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months in validated patient-reported outcome measures.

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Article Synopsis
  • Functional neurological disorder (FND) causes symptoms like paralysis and seizures and can be very serious, leading to high healthcare costs.
  • Researchers plan to study the effects of psilocybin (a psychedelic) on people with FND to understand how it might help their condition.
  • The study will look at brain activity and other factors related to FND both before and after people take psilocybin, tracking their experiences for three months.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to investigate the effects of low-dose oral psilocybin, along with psychological support, on patients suffering from chronic short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks (SUNHA), focusing on cognitive impact, safety, and headache severity.
  • - Participants received ascending doses of psilocybin (5, 7.5, and 10 mg) over three sessions, but recruitment challenges limited the study to four enrolled patients, with only three completing it.
  • - Results indicated no significant adverse effects, but cognitive function data could not be collected due to high subjective dose intensity, and headaches remained severe throughout the trial with minimal observed changes in headache frequency or severity.
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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients lack effective treatments to maintain motor and neuromuscular function. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a home-based exercise program on muscle strength, ALS scores, and transcriptome in ALS patients, Clinical Trials.gov #NCT03201991 (28/06/2017).

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The intestine is a complex organ composed of the small and the large intestines. The small intestine can be further divided into duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Each anatomical region of the intestine has a unique function that is reflected by differences in cellular structure.

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The aim of this study was to assess changes in validated patient-reported outcome measures after initiation of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) and the safety of CBMPs in patients with inflammatory arthritis. A prospective case series from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry was analyzed. The primary outcomes changes were in Brief Pain Inventory, McGill Pain Questionnaire, EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L), Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, and Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up compared with baseline.

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Pre-prohibition psychedelic research with complex psychiatric patients generated a wealth of treatment methodologies and practices, providing invaluable clinical insights pertaining to the medical administration of psychedelics in various mental health diagnoses. Building upon these early studies, which lack the rigor and research tools available today, contemporary psychedelic research has focused on investigating the safety and efficacy of psychedelics in randomized controlled trials via psychometric measures and symptom assessments. Both then and now, the treatment context and the role of clinicians in psychedelic treatment has been recognized as an essential feature for positive patient outcomes.

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Aims: Concerted, effective, and sustainable change in healthcare education programs is a critical step towards creating more diverse, inclusive, and equitable professions. This commentary demonstrates how one entry-level physical therapist education program, through a process of reflection, prioritization, and action, is taking steps to increase diversity, equity, and inclusivity within their program.

Rationale: This article highlights initiatives that are leveraging existing partnerships and creating new ones to reach and mentor students from diverse communities, steps taken towards a more holistic and equitable admissions process, implementation of curricular changes to intentionally discuss the social determinants of health, and engagement of faculty and students to foster personal and professional development on diversity, equity, and inclusion topics.

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Background: Health plan coverage is central to patient access to care, especially for rare, chronic diseases. For specialty drugs, coverage varies, resulting in barriers to access. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, progressive, and fatal disease.

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Health plans guide their enrollees' access to specialty drugs through coverage policies. We examined a set of health plan policies to determine if they have become more or less stringent over time. We did so by comparing the consistency of policies with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) label indications.

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Introduction: Whilst disease-modifying therapies are the cornerstone for treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), there is a need to develop novel therapeutics for the symptomatic sequalae of the disease. Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have been suggested as a potential therapy for the associated pain, spasticity, and mental health disorders. However, there is a paucity of clinical evidence on CBMPs in MS.

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Osteoarthritis accounts for 0.6% of disability-adjusted life years globally. There is a paucity of research focused on cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) for osteoarthritic chronic pain management.

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Aims: To investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of BPL-003, a novel intranasal benzoate salt formulation of 5-methoxy--dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), in healthy participants.

Methods: In all, 44 psychedelic-naïve participants enrolled in the double-blind, placebo-controlled single ascending dose study (1-12 mg BPL-003). Concentrations of 5-MeO-DMT and its pharmacologically active metabolite, bufotenine, were determined in plasma and urine.

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The conceptualization of personality disorder has been refined through recent nosological advances introduced in the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD). These advances locate self and interpersonal (dys)function at the core of personality pathology. Self-report personality assessment instruments have demonstrated promise in the assessment of Criterion A domains.

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Major depression is an established risk factor for subsequent dementia, and depression in late life may also represent a prodromal state of dementia. Considering current challenges in the clinical development of disease modifying therapies for dementia, the focus of research is shifting towards prevention and modification of risk factors to alter the neurodegenerative disease trajectory. Understanding mechanistic commonalities underlying affective symptoms and cognitive decline may reveal biomarkers to aid early identification of those at risk of progressing to dementia during the preclinical phase of disease, thus allowing for timely intervention.

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Objective: To capture UK medical students' self-reported knowledge and harm assessment of psychedelics and to explore the factors associated with support for changing the legal status of psychedelics to facilitate further clinical research.

Design: Cross-sectional, anonymous online survey of UK medical students using a non-random sampling method.

Setting: UK medical schools recognised by the General Medical Council.

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Introduction: The primary aim of this study was to assess changes in sleep-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for those prescribed cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) for insomnia.

Methods: A case series of UK patients with insomnia was analyzed. Primary outcomes were changes in the Single-Item Sleep-Quality Scale (SQS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and EQ-5D-5L at up to 6 months from baseline.

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This study aims to analyze changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and safety in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) prescribed a homogenous selection of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs). Patients prescribed Adven CBMPs (Curaleaf International, UK) for GAD were identified from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. Primary outcomes were changes in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) from baseline up to 12 months, including GAD-7, Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), and EQ-5D-5L.

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