Night club drug could ease depression: scientists

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have unraveled how a horse tranquilizer and hallucinogenic night club drug known as "Special K" can ease depression, researchers said on Friday.

Ketamine, which can also cause feelings of detachment, could pave the way for new treatments for people suffering from depression, the researchers added.

Their study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found ketamine restores to normal the orbifrontal cortex, an area of the brain located above the eyes that is overactive in depressed people.

The area is believed to be responsible for feelings of guilt, dread, apprehension and physical reactions such as a racing heart, said Bill Deakin, who led the study.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0284213220080502

[Clear Blue Sky]

1. Ketamine causes hallucinations.

One can hallucinate that one is happy and not depressed....

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. Ketamine

It's a potent drug with all sorts of results. It's used as a general anesthetic, and the idea that it could be effective in treating depression doesn't surprise me. Researchers know so little about how these drugs work.

An episode of "House" a couple of years ago featured ketamine, which was given to the protagonist when he needed surgery for a gunshot wound, and the resulting side-effects were astonishing. A fascinating show.

[balantz]

3. Was the protagonist's experience a positive one?

My first thought was what giant pharmeceutical company might be advertising on the station that "House" was airing on?

Just a thought.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. It was interesting

House lost his limp, was able to walk without pain (interesting, given that he's supposed to have lost muscle mass in that bad leg). So I guess that was a positive one.

But, in the show, the effects wore off, and House ultimately was back limping, using his cane.

The plot line was that they'd used an experimental procedure from Germany, dosing him with ketamine to "reboot" his brain. In the process, he no longer felt pain in his crippled leg.

The kicker, of course, was that the whole thing turned out to be a hallucination, another side effect of ketamine.

It's a great show.

[Double T]

4. Ketamine needs to be added to the water supply.

[Juche]

5. At the risk of being mocked

I would love to see a serious study on NMDA antagonists like PCP and if they can be used to enhance the '6th sense'. I have read trip reports of people having visions of things that eventually happened on PCP.

LSD and X are used to deal with emotional trauma.

Ibogaine is an effective drug for fighting addiction.

We are missing out on alot of pretty kick ass neurological research due to the drug scheduling restrictions.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. I agree

But, lurking behind all of that well-reasoned thought, are the bluenoses who dread that someone might actually enjoy the drugs.

God forbid.

[Juche]

9. sex drugs and rock n roll

All 3 are enjoyable, and must be stopped.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. Richard Leakey did a lot of neuro-research...

Based upon Ketamine. He felt it had promise.

Of course, it is less promising when you are deep in The Mother of All K-Holes, sitting in a puddle of puke in a rave club.

[Algorem]

10. ketamine is actually a person not in our reality who shows things

to us if we choose

[Acadia Blue]

11. Anything that caues feelings of unreality is not good. The anxiety

medication buspore ( sp?) makes people feel like their head is not connected to their body, and this is supposed to reduce anxiety. My friend took it and said it was horrifying. I would be very cautious of any of these meds.

[harmonicon]

12. yeah, that stuff (busbare maybe it's called?) fucked me up

I took one pill and my heart was racing, I was dizzy, and became incredibly nervous and paranoid. I couldn't leave the house for hours - I just had to lay there in bed until it wore off, completely freaked out. That was way more serious than any of the "street drugs" I ever took.

[hedgehog]

13. This is an example of why some drugs are prescription only rather than OTC.

Buspar has been a life saver for me, but I was given it only after being in therapy several months. There are a lot of different brain disorders that manifest as what we call depression, anxiety, bi-polar disease, etc. It may take several tries to figure out exactly which drugs will tune the system.



BTW - as far as ketamine goes, dosage is a big consideration. Table salt is vital for life, but I suspect sucking down a cup at one sitting isn't too healthy.

[bemildred]

14. "Dosage is everything."

Quality is not independent of quantity.

[thecrow]

21. I take Buspar for my stomach pain which goes to my shoulder

It's my insurer's way of saying "Your pain is not as important to us as selling you medication"

I need an operation to find out what is compromising my diaphragm and they refuse.
Oh Well.

[Mnemosyne]

19. Buspar? n/t

[balantz]

15. Ketamine is made by Pfizer, number one in world sales, $$$

who also make:

Lipitor, Zithromax, Viagra, Celebrex and etc.

Coming soon to a prescription slip near you?

[hedgehog]

16. Funny how no one ever talks about the mark-up on street drugs! nt

[kohodog]

17. What was angel dust?

PCP or Ketamine? I think it was a horse tranquilizer. The shit I had was soaked in parsley. Really scary stuff. I couldn't tell whether I was breathing or not and almost broke my wrist trying to open a door. Brain on novocain. That was 35 years ago. I can see that acid could be therapeutic but not sure about this stuff.

[Heddi]

18. angel dust is PCP

ketamine is a tranquilizer used by vets and also by MD's for human patients--we use it in the ER occasionally when morphine, demerol, etc, can't be used for whatever reason.

[meow2u3]

23. Ketamine is used to sedate cats before surgery

If you cat has been spayed or neutered, chances are the vet gave kitty Ketamine as an anesthetic. That's why one of the street names for Ketamine is "cat valium" or "cat".

[Mnemosyne]

20. "Brain on novacain." That is the best description of what happened to me in 1977.

It was horrendous. Couldn't even walk, had to crawl for 2 or 3 days.

I was told it was mesc. It wasn't. Where is the shudder smilie?

Glad you made it, koho! :hi:

[ashevillepolitics]

22. Psychiatrist R.D.Laine really liked Ketamine, I'm told