5 ms·

I was also impressed by the studies out of Germany on Silexan, which is a lavender extract taken orally. The clinical trials took it head-to-head with lorazepam

I was also impressed by the studies out of Germany on Silexan, which is a lavender extract taken orally. The clinical trials took it head-to-head with lorazepam, which is a benzodiazepine like Valium. It held up remarkably well, with similar levels of anxiety relief. So the effects are not limited to olfactory use. I’m a psychiatrist, and I have prescribed it a few times for patients that I treat. There’s a version of it available in the US called CalmAid that is identified as the same isolate in Silexan. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. 2013. 10.3109/13651501.2013.813555 Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2017. 10.1097/jcp.0000000000000615 Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2017. 10.3389/fphar.2017.00280 Edit: added info on an RCT, a meta-analysis, and some work on the mechanism of action

lazerpants 8y ago
Given that Silexan seems to work on NMDA and SERT, are you aware of any studies regarding Silexan and depression? Edit: these are really interesting studies by the way, thanks.
- phren0logy 8y ago
  I haven’t seen any, but it’s a good thought.
this2shallPass 8y ago
Links to the above articles: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13651501.2013.813555 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13651501.2013.81... https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/Citation/2017/02000/Lavender_Oil_Preparation__Silexan__for_Treating.29.aspx https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/Citation/2017/02... https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00280/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.0028... Also, more articles relating to lavender oil preparation and treatment of anxiety: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20512042 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20512042 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24456909 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24456909
- njarboe 8y ago
  A neat fact is that you can put any DOI at the end of doi.org/ and it will (never has failed me) redirect you right to the landing page of the paper the the DOI is a reference for. So a paper with a DOI of 10.3109/13651501.2013.813555 can be reached by going to: doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2013.813555
makmanalp 8y ago
Re: Silexan, I'm noticing a lot of stuff that seems very off. "Kasper" seems to be the author of almost every study around silexan, like article #1 above (doi 10.3109/13651501.2013.813555) and this meta-analysis [0] where Kasper et al seems to be analyzing three of their own papers! Article #2 (doi 10.1097/jcp.0000000000000615) is a meta-analysis that seems to not have Kasper in the author list, but then if you read the full article you'll see that every single one of the studies they analyze minus one are all Kasper's! Isn't this super shady? How is any of this kosher???? ---- And the Kasper meta-analysis I mention above was funded by the makers of Silexan: > The research presented in this paper was funded by Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, manufacturer of Silexan, who was also the sponsor of the trials included in the meta-analysis. The statistical analysis plan for the meta-analysis was conceived and the analyses were performed by the biostatistical department of Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG under the responsibility of co-author SS. The company also provided the raw data of the trials included into the analyses. A first draft of the manuscript was prepared by Andreas Völp, Ph.D., an independent medical writer who was reimbursed by Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, who also independently performed the risk of bias assessments. Open access funding provided by Medical University of Vienna. And of the other authors: > Hans-Jürgen Möller has received grant/research support, consulting fees and honoraria within the last years from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, MSD, Novartis, Organon, Otsuka, Pfizer, Schwabe, Sepracor, Servier, and Wyeth. Hans-Peter Volz has served as a consultant or on advisory boards for Astra/Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Pfizer, Schwabe, Janssen, Otsuka, Merz, Wyeth, neuraxpharm and has served on speakers’ bureaus for Astra/Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Schwabe, Janssen, Merz, Wyeth, Lichtwer, Steigerwald, Hormosan, neuraxpharm and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Angelika Dienel and Sandra Schläfke are employees of Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, manufacturer of Silexan. Siegfried Kasper received grants/research support, consulting fees and/or honoraria within the last 3 years from Angelini, AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Janssen, KRKA-Pharma, Lundbeck, Neuraxpharm, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Schwabe and Servier. [0] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-017-0852-4 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-017-0852-4
- phren0logy 8y ago
  Sadly that’s the state of the world - most research is funded by those who stand to gain from it. It’s not good, but the study designs are. Assuming they aren’t just falsifying data (which does happen, but is rare), then good study design limits the ability to influence results. Also, this is an inexpensive, over-the-counter treatment for mild to moderate anxiety. So I am comfortable considering a treatment with more modest research support, particularly if the patient has tried and failed other better-supported interventions, or refuses to try them.

lazerpants 8y ago

Given that Silexan seems to work on NMDA and SERT, are you aware of any studies regarding Silexan and depression? Edit: these are really interesting studies by the way, thanks.

phren0logy 8y ago
I haven’t seen any, but it’s a good thought.

this2shallPass 8y ago

Links to the above articles: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13651501.2013.813555 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13651501.2013.81... https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/Citation/2017/02000/Lavender_Oil_Preparation__Silexan__for_Treating.29.aspx https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/Citation/2017/02... https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00280/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.0028... Also, more articles relating to lavender oil preparation and treatment of anxiety: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20512042 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20512042 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24456909 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24456909

njarboe 8y ago
A neat fact is that you can put any DOI at the end of doi.org/ and it will (never has failed me) redirect you right to the landing page of the paper the the DOI is a reference for. So a paper with a DOI of 10.3109/13651501.2013.813555 can be reached by going to: doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2013.813555

makmanalp 8y ago

Re: Silexan, I'm noticing a lot of stuff that seems very off. "Kasper" seems to be the author of almost every study around silexan, like article #1 above (doi 10.3109/13651501.2013.813555) and this meta-analysis [0] where Kasper et al seems to be analyzing three of their own papers! Article #2 (doi 10.1097/jcp.0000000000000615) is a meta-analysis that seems to not have Kasper in the author list, but then if you read the full article you'll see that every single one of the studies they analyze minus one are all Kasper's! Isn't this super shady? How is any of this kosher???? ---- And the Kasper meta-analysis I mention above was funded by the makers of Silexan: > The research presented in this paper was funded by Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, manufacturer of Silexan, who was also the sponsor of the trials included in the meta-analysis. The statistical analysis plan for the meta-analysis was conceived and the analyses were performed by the biostatistical department of Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG under the responsibility of co-author SS. The company also provided the raw data of the trials included into the analyses. A first draft of the manuscript was prepared by Andreas Völp, Ph.D., an independent medical writer who was reimbursed by Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, who also independently performed the risk of bias assessments. Open access funding provided by Medical University of Vienna. And of the other authors: > Hans-Jürgen Möller has received grant/research support, consulting fees and honoraria within the last years from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, MSD, Novartis, Organon, Otsuka, Pfizer, Schwabe, Sepracor, Servier, and Wyeth. Hans-Peter Volz has served as a consultant or on advisory boards for Astra/Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Pfizer, Schwabe, Janssen, Otsuka, Merz, Wyeth, neuraxpharm and has served on speakers’ bureaus for Astra/Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Schwabe, Janssen, Merz, Wyeth, Lichtwer, Steigerwald, Hormosan, neuraxpharm and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Angelika Dienel and Sandra Schläfke are employees of Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, manufacturer of Silexan. Siegfried Kasper received grants/research support, consulting fees and/or honoraria within the last 3 years from Angelini, AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Janssen, KRKA-Pharma, Lundbeck, Neuraxpharm, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Schwabe and Servier. [0] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-017-0852-4 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-017-0852-4

phren0logy 8y ago
Sadly that’s the state of the world - most research is funded by those who stand to gain from it. It’s not good, but the study designs are. Assuming they aren’t just falsifying data (which does happen, but is rare), then good study design limits the ability to influence results. Also, this is an inexpensive, over-the-counter treatment for mild to moderate anxiety. So I am comfortable considering a treatment with more modest research support, particularly if the patient has tried and failed other better-supported interventions, or refuses to try them.