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Ketamine: can it really be an antidepressant? | Science | The Guardian
Ketamine: can it really be an antidepressant?
Claudia Kieffer remembers the first time she encountered the drug she describes as having “saved my life”. Eight years ago, Kieffer, who had suffered from treatment-resistant depression for decades, was given ketamine as a routine anaesthetic, as part of a post-mastectomy breast reconstruction procedure.
But as well as alleviating the pain, Kieffer noticed an instantaneous change in her state of mind.
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This poor woman had not responded to the available antidepressant drugs & had been hospitalized a number of times for various aspects of depression, including multiple electroshock treatments. But ketamine (a veterinary anesthetic found in the club drug Special K) unexpectedly lifted the vail of her depression.
Ketamine is in the form of a 50:50 mixture of optical isomers. The pure (S)-isomer, called essketamine, is in trials in the form of a nasal spray for treating refractory depression. But it has to be administered in medical facilities so that it's abuse potential can be controlled & monitored. Besides this bother, the cost of a monthly course will be in the thousands of $$$.
Special K apparently can have much the same effect in certain individuals for a fraction of that price & without the hassle of the medical setting. But it seems to have different effects on different people.
An interesting side note about ketamine: it acts at the so-called NMDA receptor instead of the serotonin receptors targeted by mainline antidepressant drugs lkike Prozac. Nitrous oxide (NO), a popular club inhalant drug, acts at the same receptor. People who abuse NO can develop a marked tolerance to it which might negate some of the effect of ketamine.
Ketamine: can it really be an antidepressant?
Claudia Kieffer remembers the first time she encountered the drug she describes as having “saved my life”. Eight years ago, Kieffer, who had suffered from treatment-resistant depression for decades, was given ketamine as a routine anaesthetic, as part of a post-mastectomy breast reconstruction procedure.
But as well as alleviating the pain, Kieffer noticed an instantaneous change in her state of mind.
====================================
This poor woman had not responded to the available antidepressant drugs & had been hospitalized a number of times for various aspects of depression, including multiple electroshock treatments. But ketamine (a veterinary anesthetic found in the club drug Special K) unexpectedly lifted the vail of her depression.
Ketamine is in the form of a 50:50 mixture of optical isomers. The pure (S)-isomer, called essketamine, is in trials in the form of a nasal spray for treating refractory depression. But it has to be administered in medical facilities so that it's abuse potential can be controlled & monitored. Besides this bother, the cost of a monthly course will be in the thousands of $$$.
Special K apparently can have much the same effect in certain individuals for a fraction of that price & without the hassle of the medical setting. But it seems to have different effects on different people.
An interesting side note about ketamine: it acts at the so-called NMDA receptor instead of the serotonin receptors targeted by mainline antidepressant drugs lkike Prozac. Nitrous oxide (NO), a popular club inhalant drug, acts at the same receptor. People who abuse NO can develop a marked tolerance to it which might negate some of the effect of ketamine.
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