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61 papers
In a small, carefully controlled study, seven people with major depression each received a single low-dose ketamine infusion on one day and a saline infusion on another day, without anyone knowing which was which. People who got ketamine showed clear improvement in their depressive symptoms within three days, while those…
In a small, controlled study of 18 people with treatment-resistant major depression, a single intravenous dose of the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) produced rapid drops in depression scores. Improvement began within about 2 hours and remained statistically significant compared with placebo for up to 1 week. The study…
Researchers tested a single intravenous dose of ketamine in 73 people with major depression that had not gotten better with usual treatments. In a two-site, double-blind trial, people were randomly given either ketamine or an active placebo (the anesthetic midazolam). Twenty-four hours after the infusion, people who got ketamine were…
Researchers tested a nasal spray form of esketamine together with a newly started oral antidepressant in adults whose depression had not improved after trying at least two antidepressants. Over four weeks, people who got esketamine plus a new antidepressant had faster and larger drops in depression symptoms than those who…
This phase 3, double-blind trial tested whether continuing esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant could delay relapse in adults with treatment-resistant depression who had already improved after an initial esketamine course. Of 297 patients who entered the randomized phase, continuing esketamine reduced relapse compared with switching to placebo nasal…
Ketamine has been used as a safe anesthetic for more than 50 years and also works well for pain relief. The active form is S(+)-ketamine and it is mainly broken down into an active metabolite called norketamine. Ketamine blocks NMDA receptors in the brain, which helps explain its special effects…
Ketamine, an anaesthetic, can reduce chronic pain, especially pain with nerve damage. Low doses give strong pain relief, probably by blocking NMDA receptors. Short infusions tend to help only while the drug is given, but three studies found that longer infusions (4–14 days) produced pain relief lasting up to 3…
This 2017 review of studies up to 2014 looked at how cannabis and related drugs affect sleep. The authors found early, mixed evidence: cannabidiol (CBD) showed possible benefit for insomnia and some sleep disorders, THC might make people fall asleep faster but could harm sleep quality over time, and some…
Adjunctive ketamine demonstrated a greater reduction in clinically significant suicidal ideation in depressed patients within 24 hours compared with midazolam, partially independently of antidepressant effect.
Repeated ketamine infusions have cumulative and sustained antidepressant effects. Reductions in depressive symptoms were maintained among responders through once-weekly infusions. These findings provide novel data on efficacious administration strategies for ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Future studies should further expand on optimizing administration to better translate the use of…
This 2014 review describes how ketamine, an anesthetic first sold in 1970, is used today in anesthesia, pain care, and critical care. The paper says ketamine has many effects: it can raise heart rate and blood pressure, relax airways, spare breathing, and block NMDA receptors. Newer research reported possible neuroprotective,…
Researchers ran a clinical trial that directly compared ketamine treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in people whose major depression had not improved with other treatments and who did not have psychosis. The trial found that ketamine was “noninferior” to ECT, which means ketamine worked at least as well as ECT…
