Ketamine is a synthetic medication that was initially used as an adjuvant to anesthetics in the 1960s. It has been used in the Vietnam war to reduce physical pain due to injuries. At higher dosages, it is used in the operating and emergency rooms for surgeries as a large part of an anesthetic regimen.
In the 1970s, Ketamine was approved by the FDA as an anesthetic and since has been used around the world in humans and animals. It is a safe and successful anesthetic used in hospitals, dentist offices, and veterinary and medical clinics since its development.
Within the past several decades years, Ketamine was identified as having beneficial effects on patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Postpartum Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD), and Suicidality (need reference).
Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world. In the United States, over 16 million adults experience major depression within the course of a year. Between 1999 and 2016, depression-related suicide rates increased by over 30% (reference).
Ketamine has shown to work more rapidly when compared to antidepressants in certain medication-resistant patients. It continues to show promising results in the field of mental health and recently nasal ketamine was approved by the FDA. Hence why some researchers feel that it could play an impactful role in preventing suicide, improving depression and mental health.
Notably, with the recent events from the pandemic, there has been a significant surge in depression and worsening of mental health that is now at the forefront of our daily lives. We here at KlearMind hope we can help and guide our patients through this process and hopefully improve their lives for the better.
When a patient responds to ketamine, it can quickly reduce and relieve other serious symptoms of depression at the same time. In this vein, ketamine is also effective for treating anxiety combined with depression.
Current traditional treatments for mental health and depression can take weeks to months before they take an effect. Simply because oral intake of medications takes time for therapeutic levels to build within one’s system. There are also side-effects that can take time to develop which can also cause delay or stop treatment for patients. Finally, patients must often try several medications before finding one that brings relief. Ketamine begins to act on the receptors once an infusion has started and patients immediately begin to feel the effects of the infusion. Further side effects are limited to the time of infusion and medications are available to reduce certain side effects.
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In the news:
Below are some scientific articles that discuss the benefits of ketamine and a few magazine articles that describe experiences patients and authors have encountered. We encourage you to read these articles notably in the New Yorker.
Ketamine Therapy Is Going Mainstream. Are We Ready?
The Ketamine Cure
NPR: Could A Club Drug Offer 'Almost Immediate' Relief From Depression?
The Past, Present and Future of Using Ketamine to Treat Depression
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Scientific Articles:
Ketamine as a novel treatment for major depressive disorder and bipolar depression: a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis
Antidepressant efficacy of ketamine in treatment-resistant major depression: a two-site randomized controlled trial
Rapid antidepressant effects of repeated doses of ketamine compared with electroconvulsive therapy in hospitalized patients with major depressive disorder
Consensus Guidelines on the Use of Intravenous Ketamine Infusions…