Ketamine effectively works against hard-to-treat depression

What are the effects of taking ketamine on people with depression??
Researchers have now found that ketamine is extremely effective in the treatment of difficult-to-treat depression. The effect in older patients is particularly good, but a similar effect could also be found in younger people.

The University of New South Wales scientists found in the world's first randomized controlled trial on the use of ketamine in the treatment of resistant depression that elderly patients in particular can benefit extremely from ketamine. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry".

Some older people find it difficult to treat depression. Physicians have now found that ketamine treatment can often help such people. (Image: Zerbor / fotolia.com)

Treatment of the elderly can cause problems
It is always very important to test how people of different ages respond to a new treatment before it can be used by the doctors, the experts explain. Sometimes, for example, depression is harder to treat in older people, especially with medication. In addition, the elderly patients often show other medical problems, which can then be amplified by drugs, explain the doctors.

After treatment, 43 percent of patients reported a cure
Ketamine was discovered as early as 1962. In the UK, it is used medically for anesthesia. In addition, the drug is also used illegally as a recreational drug, the researchers report. After six months of treatment with ketamine, 43 percent of the subjects said that they no longer had significant symptoms of depression. This rate is very high because participants did not respond to previous treatment, study authors said.

Effect maximizes about 20 hours after ingestion
According to the researchers, ketamine works fast and strong even with a single dose. Many critics were of the opinion that the drug triggered a kind of euphoria and therefore people are convinced that they are no longer depressed. But the effect takes place in the first hour and have nothing to do with euphoria, explain the experts. The reduction in depression occurs a few hours later and maximizes after about 20 hours.

Cans have to be adjusted for individual persons
The study also showed that ketamine can be used in a variety of ways (not just intravenously), the researchers say. And the dose must be adjusted if the depression is particularly resistant to treatment, the study authors further explain.

Drug was given by injection to patients
The drug was given to the patients by injection in the study. Thus, ketamine is easier and faster to administer than an intravenous infusion used in other studies, the researchers explain. Participants received individualized doses of ketamine over a total period of five weeks.

How did the patients respond to treatment with ketamine??
There were patients who were relieved of their symptoms after a single treatment for several months, the researchers report. For example, one subject had been free of depressive symptoms for a single dose in 2014 for five months. Most patients initially responded positively to treatment, but after a period of three to seven days, they had returned to their previous state. In this case, repeated dosages were used.

Further research is needed
The results of the study are an important step in the treatment of depression with ketamine. However, it is too early to try this treatment in clinical practice, the researchers say. Further research with larger sample sizes is now required to formally assess the side effects of ketamine. (As)