Ketamine can effectively treat severe depression, according to new research.
It was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry on Friday. the study More than one in five people with treatment-resistant depression found that their symptoms disappeared after receiving ketamine injections in clinical trials, and one-third reported that their symptoms had improved by at least 50 percent.
“This trial found that ketamine was clearly superior to placebo: 20% reported being free of clinical depression compared to only 2% in the placebo group,” said first author Colleen. Mr. Lu said in his paper. news release. “This is a huge difference and provides conclusive evidence in an area where only small trials comparing ketamine to placebo have been done in the past.”
Roux, Clinical Psychiatrist and Professor A doctor from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, calls ketamine a “powerful treatment” for depression.
“For patients with treatment-resistant depression, those who have failed various methods of talking therapy, commonly prescribed antidepressants, and electroconvulsive therapy, 20 percent remission is actually quite good. It’s numbers,” Professor Lou said.
It is mainly used by veterinarians as an anesthetic. Ketamine To a lesser extent, it is also used in human medicine and as a recreational drug because of its dissociative effects.
In this study, researchers followed 179 people with treatment-resistant depression. Participants were given two weekly injections of ketamine or placebo and then asked to assess their mood at the end of the month-long study and again after one month. In this trial, a surgical sedative was chosen as placebo instead of typical saline to simulate the effects of ketamine.
“Because saline has no subjective effect, previous studies were clear about who received ketamine and who received a placebo,” explained Professor Lu.
The study builds on a body of evidence that psychoactive drugs like ketamine and psilocybin mushroom can be effective treatments for depression.
Canada approves nasal spray version of ketamine for depression May 2020. The Australian study used generic drugs, which are usually a fraction of the cost.
“And considering that many of these people can spend months in the hospital or be unable to work and often have significant suicidal thoughts, it’s incredibly quick and powerful to have an effect. Considering the , it is very cost-effective,” Lu said. “We have seen people go back to work or study or leave the hospital within weeks with this treatment.”
