RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – Ketamine is used to sedate patients during surgery.
However, the drug is often used to treat patients with depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
“In 2000, a paper was published showing that very low doses of ketamine were incredibly effective for depression,” says Dr. Robert Watson, owner of WellCentric Health in Reno. “In 2006, a study was published proving its effectiveness, and since then, there have been numerous studies proving the effectiveness of ketamine, but it has to be in low doses.”
In clinical practice, the drug is initially administered intravenously over 40 minutes, twice weekly.
After two to three weeks, patients return for maintenance treatment. After a while, patients may not need to return, Dr. Watson says.
That’s because the drug increases brain activity and builds up or remodels receptors in the brain and body.
“It’s not physically addictive like tobacco, alcohol or heroin,” Dr. Watson says, “which means if you use the drug for a period of time and then stop using it, your body doesn’t have an adverse reaction.”
This doesn’t mean that some people don’t develop a psychological addiction to ketamine.
So in clinical practice, some patients who can’t take more medication turn to the over-the-counter drug ketamine, but even larger doses of the drug don’t work as well.
Studies have shown that packaging of the street drug ketamine can be indistinguishable from controlled substances. Analysis of street drug ketamine typically finds little to no pharmaceutical ketamine, and sometimes contains fentanyl instead.
This street drug is used to induce dissociative feelings and hallucinations.
Dr. Watson worries that Perry’s death may leave observers with a bad impression of ketamine.
“People were terrified of propofol, just like when Michael Jackson died from it,” Dr. Watson says, “but it’s an incredibly effective and desirable drug. Anesthesiologists love it because it’s fast-acting and makes patients feel like they’ve had a nice nap.”
According to published reports, Perry could not have been given more ketamine than he was receiving in a clinical setting to treat his substance abuse problems.
He used his money and influence to obtain drugs through illegal means. The coroner’s report said he drowned in a hot tub at his home, but his body was unable to respond after being submerged in water.
Dr Watson says ketamine can be life-changing for patients, but it must be administered in a clinical setting, often by a team that can monitor the drug’s mental and physical effects on each patient.
For more information, visit WellCentricHealth.com.
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