HoldsUp

Nolan Williams

Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab

Nolan Williams is a neuropsychiatrist and the Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. His published research focuses on neuromodulation interventions, including transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT) for disorders such as treatment-resistant depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Additionally, he studies the neural correlates and therapeutic outcomes of magnesium-ibogaine treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

32 claims checked on air: 2 context 3 overstated 23 supported 4 unverified

What they said on air - overstated

5 citing their own research

0:40:39overstatedlowOne Dose That Heals Addiction, PTSD, and Brain Injury | The

In a study of veterans undergoing ibogaine treatment, participants exhibited a sustained reduction in alcohol consumption that approached zero despite not seeking treatment for alcohol use.

"So, our data, we we also collected alcohol use. Um, and what we found was, and we're going to publish this soon, that uh people's alcohol use really precipitously dropped almost close to to zero. And so just almost everybody just really dramatic improvements in alcohol um and uh and maintained it." (said at 0:40:39)

While prospective observational data on Special Operations Forces Veterans receiving combined ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT treatment showed a statistically significant reduction in alcohol misuse scores through 6 months post-treatment, the claim overstates the magnitude of effect and proportion of participants who benefited. Rather than alcohol use dropping 'almost close to zero' for 'almost everybody', only 24% of veterans with baseline risky drinking achieved total abstinence at 1 month (16% at 6 months), and 53% remained risky drinkers at 6 months. Additionally, these open-label observational findings lack a control group.

0:54:15overstatedvery lowOne Dose That Heals Addiction, PTSD, and Brain Injury | The

Survivors of the October 7th festival attack in Israel who were under the influence of MDMA exhibited a statistically significantly lower incidence of PTSD onset compared to those who were not.

"There's an analysis of the, you know, events that happened in Israel with the with the rave, right? And in that situation, there was a certain percentage of those people that were actually on MDMA. I don't know if you know about that. ... They actually saw a statistically significantly lower PTSD onset in individuals that were on MDMA compared to people that weren't for that experience" (said at 0:54:15)

Studies examining survivors of the October 7, 2023 Nova festival attack who were under the influence of psychoactive substances (including MDMA/empathogens and classic psychedelics) have explored peritraumatic experiences and psychological outcomes. Preliminary mixed-methods and observational survey data suggest that survivors frequently reported subjective benefits in acute emotional coping and functionality during the attack, alongside complex post-event integration. However, claiming a definitive or established protective effect against PTSD onset overstates the evidence, which consists of retrospective, uncontrolled observational and qualitative data subject to substantial recall bias, self-selection, and confounding.

1:03:40overstatedmoderateOne Dose That Heals Addiction, PTSD, and Brain Injury | The

In the 1700s, many European physicians rejected citrus fruit as a treatment for scurvy, and members of the British Royal Society argued that limes and lemons might make scurvy worse.

"Many of them thought these were-- you know, there weren't that many limes and lemons in Europe at the time, right? This this was considered a South American or an African exotic plant. And so most of the physicians of the day actually rejected uh citrus fruit as a treatment for scurvy. And so as you know the story of anti-fruiters, right? There were lots of people in the British uh Royal Society that said that the that the limes and lemons may actually be making scurvy worse." (said at 1:03:40)

Historical medical literature confirms that in the 18th century, academic physicians and institutions like the British Royal Society largely ignored, dismissed, or delayed adoption of James Lind's 1747 trial demonstrating the efficacy of citrus fruit. Key figures, such as Royal Society president Sir John Pringle, heavily promoted competing theoretical treatments (including malt wort, elixir of vitriol, and purgatives) based on prevailing theories of putrefaction and humoral imbalance. However, claiming that European physicians viewed citrus as an exotic South American/African plant (citrus had been cultivated in Mediterranean Europe for centuries) or that Royal Society members formally argued citrus made scurvy worse overstates and embellishes the nature of 18th-century medical resistance, which was characterized by adherence to alternative theoretical frameworks rather than a claim that citrus actively aggravated the disease.

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