5 ms·

Mushrooms growing in humans is nothing special at all: It is called Mycosis or Candidiasis, and there are (generally) antifungal drugs. Deliberately self infec

by ktpsns 6y ago

Mushrooms growing in humans is nothing special at all: It is called Mycosis or Candidiasis, and there are (generally) antifungal drugs. Deliberately self infecting with fungus is something very stupid... Did he survive?

michaelmcdonald 6y ago
Didn't read the full paper, but according to a Reddit comment here they say he survives: https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/kvmcsb/a_trip_to_the_icu_intravenous_injection_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/kvmcsb/a_trip_to...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
Jeff_Brown 6y ago
But in the blood?
- sk5t 6y ago
  Yes - and systemic fungal infections are medically serious.
  - Pet_Ant 6y ago
    But surely not all fungi are capable of it? The fact that this is one is capable of both surviving and producing hallucinations seems like an incredible fluke.
    - TeaDrunk 6y ago
      If I had to name a life form that has immense survivability in multiple environments and also causes hallucinations or other toxic-like effects in brains, I'd definitely point to fungi. Fungi is nature wilding.
      - rightbyte 6y ago
        I wish that was true for chanterelles. Many fungi need very specific conditions.
magneticnorth 6y ago
I'm surprised that a mushroom adapted to growing in dirt was able to grow in human blood - I was under the impression that the growing medium matters quite a lot to mushrooms, and dead plant matter vs living animal matter seems like a big difference.
- cogman10 6y ago
  Depends on the fungus. Some are far more picky than others. Magic mushrooms, in particular, love cow dung as a growing medium. That being said, fungus tends to be nigh indestructible. The guy boiled it before injection which really speaks to just how hardy those spores can be.
  - sonotmyname 6y ago
    > The guy boiled it before injection No, he poured boiling water over the mushrooms - big difference. Plenty of time for boiling water to cool before killing all of the spores.
  - Alex3917 6y ago
    > Magic mushrooms, in particular, love cow dung as a growing medium. This is a myth. Most magic mushrooms grow in wood, moss, dirt, etc. The media just likes hyping up p. cubensis first whatever reason.
    - capableweb 6y ago
      "Magic Mushrooms" is ambiguous, so yeah, anything around it is a myth. When it comes to Cubensis, it's commonly found in the places you mention. I think the "myth" you mention, is about Liberty Cap (Psilocybe semilanceata) which you can find basically anywhere in the northern hemisphere, very common all over Europe. While Liberty Caps don't directly grow in the dung, they do love cow and sheep pastures and is more commonly found there. If you're an adult, never experienced psychedelic drugs before but would like to, and live in Europe, try looking for Liberty Caps in a nearby pasture once temperatures went down to between 0-10 degrees. I'm sure you'll find some.
ta988 6y ago
Last info they give, he was still treated with antifungals
vondur 6y ago
If I remember correctly, Anti-Fungal drugs can have some pretty serious side effects.
- compsciphd 6y ago
  I think the point of the OP was that its pretty common for fungi to grow on and in humans, so much that there is a well known class of drugs meant for it.
- shakezula 6y ago
  Had to take anti-fungal drugs for a rash. They were crazier than the rash but got rid of it. They made my eczema flare up really badly, and I was insanely sensitive to sun exposure, which is apparently a quite common side effect. Anti-fungals really are no joke.
Kronmonker 6y ago
But in the article says they grew in his blood, which is different of what you saying.
WraithM 6y ago
This is an instance of fungemia, which is the fungus growing in the blood. Candidiasis is a kind of fungemia caused by a particular fungus family that isn't Psilocybe Cubensis (the particular kind of magic mushrooms in this case). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungemia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungemia
gumby 6y ago
> there are (generally) antifungal drugs. I used to work in drug development specifically on anti fungal medication and they are all extremely hepatotoxic. They tend also to be pathogen specific. I doubt this fellow will live long enough to get a liver transplant.
- andor 6y ago
  Interesting, does this also apply to externally applied over-the-counter antifungals such as Clotrimazole or Bifonazole?
  - gumby 6y ago
    very much so, but the dosages are low and your skin is pretty good at keeping bad stuff out. Don't eat a tube of Clorimazole or drink a bottle of Head and Shoulders.

by ktpsns 6y ago

michaelmcdonald 6y ago

Didn't read the full paper, but according to a Reddit comment here they say he survives: https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/kvmcsb/a_trip_to_the_icu_intravenous_injection_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/kvmcsb/a_trip_to...

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

Jeff_Brown 6y ago

But in the blood?

sk5t 6y ago
Yes - and systemic fungal infections are medically serious.
- Pet_Ant 6y ago
  But surely not all fungi are capable of it? The fact that this is one is capable of both surviving and producing hallucinations seems like an incredible fluke.
  - TeaDrunk 6y ago
    If I had to name a life form that has immense survivability in multiple environments and also causes hallucinations or other toxic-like effects in brains, I'd definitely point to fungi. Fungi is nature wilding.
    - rightbyte 6y ago
      I wish that was true for chanterelles. Many fungi need very specific conditions.

magneticnorth 6y ago

I'm surprised that a mushroom adapted to growing in dirt was able to grow in human blood - I was under the impression that the growing medium matters quite a lot to mushrooms, and dead plant matter vs living animal matter seems like a big difference.

cogman10 6y ago
Depends on the fungus. Some are far more picky than others. Magic mushrooms, in particular, love cow dung as a growing medium. That being said, fungus tends to be nigh indestructible. The guy boiled it before injection which really speaks to just how hardy those spores can be.
- sonotmyname 6y ago
  > The guy boiled it before injection No, he poured boiling water over the mushrooms - big difference. Plenty of time for boiling water to cool before killing all of the spores.
- Alex3917 6y ago
  > Magic mushrooms, in particular, love cow dung as a growing medium. This is a myth. Most magic mushrooms grow in wood, moss, dirt, etc. The media just likes hyping up p. cubensis first whatever reason.
  - capableweb 6y ago
    "Magic Mushrooms" is ambiguous, so yeah, anything around it is a myth. When it comes to Cubensis, it's commonly found in the places you mention. I think the "myth" you mention, is about Liberty Cap (Psilocybe semilanceata) which you can find basically anywhere in the northern hemisphere, very common all over Europe. While Liberty Caps don't directly grow in the dung, they do love cow and sheep pastures and is more commonly found there. If you're an adult, never experienced psychedelic drugs before but would like to, and live in Europe, try looking for Liberty Caps in a nearby pasture once temperatures went down to between 0-10 degrees. I'm sure you'll find some.

ta988 6y ago

Last info they give, he was still treated with antifungals

vondur 6y ago

If I remember correctly, Anti-Fungal drugs can have some pretty serious side effects.

compsciphd 6y ago
I think the point of the OP was that its pretty common for fungi to grow on and in humans, so much that there is a well known class of drugs meant for it.
shakezula 6y ago
Had to take anti-fungal drugs for a rash. They were crazier than the rash but got rid of it. They made my eczema flare up really badly, and I was insanely sensitive to sun exposure, which is apparently a quite common side effect. Anti-fungals really are no joke.

Kronmonker 6y ago

But in the article says they grew in his blood, which is different of what you saying.

WraithM 6y ago

This is an instance of fungemia, which is the fungus growing in the blood. Candidiasis is a kind of fungemia caused by a particular fungus family that isn't Psilocybe Cubensis (the particular kind of magic mushrooms in this case). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungemia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungemia

gumby 6y ago

> there are (generally) antifungal drugs. I used to work in drug development specifically on anti fungal medication and they are all extremely hepatotoxic. They tend also to be pathogen specific. I doubt this fellow will live long enough to get a liver transplant.

andor 6y ago
Interesting, does this also apply to externally applied over-the-counter antifungals such as Clotrimazole or Bifonazole?
- gumby 6y ago
  very much so, but the dosages are low and your skin is pretty good at keeping bad stuff out. Don't eat a tube of Clorimazole or drink a bottle of Head and Shoulders.