Party drug ketamine viable treatment for depression, researchers say

Researchers believe ketamine — or Special K — may be a beneficial medication for patients with depression, according to a new paper published in Lancet Psychiatry.

Ketamine is a licensed medical drug often used as an anesthetic or pain reliever. However, the drug is also used recreationally and can lead to addiction, reports Reuters.

Previous studies have shown patients who failed to respond to traditional antidepressants like Prozac and Seroxat saw improvements when taking ketamine, which uses a different treatment mechanism than antidepressants, according to the paper.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in England believe clinicians should be able to prescribe the drug as a psychiatric treatment under controlled circumstances.

"We think patients' treatment should be in specialist centers and formally tracked in national or international registries," said study author Rupert McShane, MD, a psychiatrist and researcher at Oxford who's studied ketamine.

Treating these patients in specialist centers would allow physicians to closely monitor for any signs of addiction, while also narrowing in on the ideal dose, frequency and duration of the treatment, according to Dr. Ilina Singh, a psychiatry professor at Oxford University and co-researcher with Dr. McShane.

"This drug is available, it's out there, and if we can help patients get treatment responsibly, it's our duty to do so," Dr. Singh told Reuters.

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