Researchers have previously studied ibogaine as a potential treatment for opioid or cocaine dependence. While the recent study is one of the earliest to investigate ibogaine in relation to PTSD, the psychedelic compounds MDMA and psilocybin are in late-stage trials for PTSD treatment.
Alan Davis, a clinical researcher at Ohio State University who is unaffiliated with the study, tells Nature News that he agrees the data support launching trials to further test ibogaine. However, he says that MDMA and psilocybin may currently be better candidates for veterans’ PTSD treatment. He is not the only researcher looking at the study’s results with caution.
“Although the results have large effect sizes, most psychological studies will show improvement with any intervention,” says Amy Badura Brack, a psychologist at Creighton University who was not involved with the study, to Wired.
Though its results appear promising, the study did have some drawbacks. It was limited to a small sample size, lacking both participant diversity and a placebo arm. Researchers plan to continue monitoring study participants, publish the results and launch future research to better understand ibogaine and TBI treatment. {read}