Ketamine has been used as an anti-depressant and it is working wonders. Researchers discovered something concerning Ketamine working on the brain. New research shows that drugs affect the brain as morphine and other opioids do but in different forms.
The latest study showed Ketamine working as an anti-depressant but it has limited use. Opioid addiction, and dependence on painkillers which is a crisis in the US. In a previous study ketamine was solely dependent on the glutamate system in the brain.
One of the researchers, Alan Schatzberg from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California said that before they did a study of Ketamine, he wasn’t sure that Ketamine worked to treat depression. Now he knows the Ketamine works but it doesn’t like everyone thought it was working.
Even though Ketamine hasn’t got approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat depression, doctors are prescribing ketamine to treat depression. The effects of Ketamine on the brain haven’t been studied fully yet.
A study with 12 volunteers was done on Ketamine and the results show vastly effect was due to the placebo effect but not the naltrexone test. Mark George neuroscientist from the Medical University of South Carolina said that they would hate to treat depression and suicide by overusing Ketamine which might increase dependency on opioids. However, researchers suggest that Ketamine can be used for treating depression but use of it would be limited.
Yale University psychiatrist Gerard Sanacora, who wasn’t involved in the study, said that he found the study interesting and mentioned many factors how Ketamine produces an antidepressant-like effect. But the study which is conducted on Ketamine is tiny and the researcher doesn’t prove that Ketamine works through the opioid system. There is the possibility that Ketamine is releasing endorphins just like opioid does. George said that, with these new findings. We should be cautious about using Ketamine
Reference:
American Journal of Psychiatry.
