Experimental Medication Kicks Depression In Hours Instead Of Weeks

[HuckleB]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=49084&nfid=nl

"People with treatment-resistant depression experienced symptom relief in as little as two hours with a single intravenous dose of ketamine, a medication usually used in higher doses as an anesthetic in humans and animals, in a preliminary study. Current antidepressants routinely take eight weeks or more to exert their effect in treatment-resistant patients and four to six weeks in more responsive patients - a major drawback of these medications. Some participants in this study, who previously had tried an average of six medications without relief, continued to show benefits over the next seven days after just a single dose of the experimental treatment, according to researchers conducting the study at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health.

This is among the first studies of humans to examine the effects of ketamine on depression, a debilitating illness that affects 14.8 million people in any given year. Used in very low doses, the medication is important for research, but is unlikely to become a widely used clinical treatment for depression because of potential side effects, including hallucinations and euphoria, at higher doses. However, scientists say this research could point the way toward development of a new class of faster- and -longer-acting medications. None of the patients in this study, all of whom received a low dose, had serious side effects. Study results were published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

"The public health implications of being able to treat major depression this quickly would be enormous," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "These new findings demonstrate the importance of developing new classes of antidepressants that are not simply variations of existing medications."

For this study 18 treatment-resistant, depressed patients were randomly assigned to receive either a single intravenous dose of ketamine or a placebo (inactive compound). Depression improved within one day in 71 percent of all those who received ketamine, and 29 percent of these patients became nearly symptom-free within one day. Thirty-five percent of patients who received ketamine still showed benefits seven days later. Participants receiving a placebo infusion showed no improvement. One week later, participants were given the opposite treatment, unless the beneficial effects of the first treatment were still evident. This "crossover" study design strengthens the validity of the results.

..."

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. This bodes very well...

For people who are in a crisis situation, such as exhibiting suicidal ideations with a plan.

[LSparkle]

2. Boy, I could have used this at times in my life ...

[NC_Nurse]

3. Ketamine?

Weird. In larger doses it's got that antipsychotic 100 mile stare effect. They use it as an anesthetic adjunct on kids and elderly people and mentally ill folks. I've always thought it makes them even harder to wake up and orient, but some docs swear by it.
This must be a MUCH smaller dose. I wonder how often you would have to have it....and long term effects....hmmm.

[varkam]

4. That was my thought too.

But the article said that ketamine is not going to go into clinical use because of the potential for abuse and side effects, but that it could lead to the development of new drugs that might exert the same anti-depressant effects as ketamine minus the abuse potential and side effects.

[varkam]

5. K&R.

That's amazing news. I'm happy to give this one a K&R.

[Sgent]

6. Why the heck shouldn't it be in clinical use?

Sorry, but ketamine has been used in ER's and OR's for decades as a mid-grade anesthetic -- very useful for setting bones, potentially tramautic exams (sexual abuse exams on small children), etc.

Its not any more of an addiction issue than morphine, or probably even xanax. If this has the ability to effectively halt suicidal ideations in 2 hours, it should be used -- and today. This would save 1000's of lives.