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Horse medicine as an effective antidepressant?
Researchers found that a substance produced after taking ketamine could be an effective antidepressant. Apparently, this substance has no harmful side effects and could thus in the future help many people affected by mental illness. Ketamine was originally used by veterinarians as a tranquilizer for horses.
Could a tranquilizer for horses be the drug that will soon be used as an antidepressant in mental illness? Researchers at Maryland University's School of Medicine have now discovered that ketamine produces a substance in the human body that appears to be a type of antidepressant with no harmful side effects. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Nature".
Scientists have now discovered that ketamine produces a substance in the body that is an effective antidepressant. (Image: CrazyCloud / fotolia.com) What is ketamine?
Ketamine is a medication that was originally used as a tranquilizer for horses. It can greatly reduce the sensation of pain and even cause unconsciousness, say the experts. Because of its special properties, ketamine was one of the most important anesthetics for US soldiers during the Vietnam War. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists ketamine as a list of essential medicines. Because of its hallucinogenic side effects, ketamine is also often abused as a intoxicant, say doctors. Clinical studies have now shown that ketamine in humans helps to relieve depression much faster than is currently possible with commonly prescribed medications, the researchers explain.
The problem is that ketamine causes dissociative, euphoric and addictive properties. Therefore, the researchers tried to find out in their investigation, what exactly happened in humans when he takes ketamine.
New studies must isolate positive effects and eliminate harmful effects
Thus, the doctors could find in a test in mice that not the ketamine itself relieves the depression, but by the drug is produced a substance that causes such relief. This discovery fundamentally changes our understanding of how this rapid antidepressant mechanism works, say the scientists. In the future, this finding could lead to effective and safe treatment, explains one of the authors. Carlos Zarate. It is now the same process in humans to observe, to isolate beneficial effects and eliminate harmful effects, adds. Todd Gould of the Maryland University School of Medicine added.
Metabolite could allow treatment of very severe depression
Now that we know that ketamine does not cause the effects of an antidepressant in mice, but it is due to a metabolite, it must be determined whether this effect works similarly in humans and thus an improved treatment is possible. Gould. The use could have a similarly rapid onset of action and the same effectiveness against depression, which were previously resistant to current treatment methods, without the unwanted side effects such as perceptual distortion and occurring addictive potential, adds the expert. Of course, further clinical studies are needed on patients with depression.
Changes in brain facilitate a rapid reduction of depression
The findings of the study are a truly fascinating advance in understanding the impact that ketamine can have on people with very severe depression, say the doctors. Changes in our brain make it easier for us to form new connections that support a rapid reduction in depression, the experts explain. These findings count for mice, but it remains to be determined whether all effects in humans are similar. (As)