New study Ketamine has been shown to help treat major depression

Experts are studying the effects of ketamine on depression
Depression is widespread in our society today. Physicians are looking for ways and means to better protect people from depression or treat them more effectively. Researchers have now discovered that the drug ketamine can be used to treat major depression.

Researchers at the internationally recognized Oxford University found in their study that ketamine is effective in the treatment of major depression. The drug also helps when no other medications improve it. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "The Lancet Psychiatry".

Depression is widespread and complicates the lives of those affected considerably. Physicians are now investigating whether ketamine is suitable for the treatment of major depression. The results obtained make a very positive impression. (Image: WavebreakMediaMicro / fotolia.com)

What is ketamine?
Ketamine is licensed for use in anesthesia. The drug is often used in animal and human medicine. The drug is also often used as an illegal batch drug. Recent research has now shown that ketamine can also be used to treat the most severe depression.

Keatmin leads to rapid improvement in symptoms
For their study, the experts analyzed the data of more than 100 subjects. These had received a total of about 1,000 infusions of ketamine over six years, the researchers say. The physicians were able to find that the drug led to a rapid improvement in symptoms, when all other means and ways were ineffective. The benefits gained over a period of up to 14 days, add the scientists.

Benefits can only be sustained by repeated ingestion
But ketamine is also just a normal drug and maintaining the benefits is a challenge, the experts emphasize. So far, the only way to maintain the benefits of ketamine, to repeat the dosages constantly.

Treatment with ketamine should only be done in specialized centers
Patients should be treated exclusively in specialist centers and formally prosecuted in national or international registries, say the experts. Thus, safety or abuse problems would be avoided by a longer-term use. In addition, physicians can determine which dose, frequency and duration of treatment work best.

Results should be investigated carefully
Currently, physicians can also prescribe the drug to patients to use it for purposes other than intended, the researchers explain. The data from these prescriptions and the results obtained should be examined more closely in order to better assess and reduce the risks associated with their use, say the experts. Thus, also possible negative effects of the treatment of severe depression with ketamine are detectable.

No side effects as with antidepressants
We hope that the results achieved here will enable the innovative use of ketamine in depression that is resistant to normal treatment, say the doctors. Ketamine does not have the unpleasant effects of other antidepressants such as lithium tremor, fatigue or nausea, the researchers say.

Further research is needed
Despite clinical studies that showed a rapid improvement in mood after ketamine infusions, there are still significant gaps in our knowledge of the right dosage, efficacy and safety of long-term use, the experts explain. Before ketamine can be recommended for use in clinical practice, further extensive research is needed. "That's the only way we can understand how we need to use ketamine to treat depression," the doctors add.