New study shines light on ketamine’s antidepressant effects

New study shines light on ketamine’s antidepressant effects

Ketamine, a long known anesthetic drug, has recently experienced resurgence in use due to the serendipitous discovery of new activities.  These new activities have afforded new treatment options for notoriously difficult to treat diseases such as depression and chronic pain.

Ketamine has been called the pharmacologist’s nightmare due to it’s numerous mechanisms of action, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes the drug so effective for specific diseases.  A new study published in Biological Psychiatry found that ketamine induced large-scale persistent network reconfiguration in monkeys.  The scientists believe that this activity may be critical for ketamine’s anti-depressive effects.

These findings could rapidly advance the development of a ketamine-based drug for the treatment of depression.  Moreover, it opens the door for more physicians to use existing ketamine therapeutics off label to treat depression that is resistant to conventional antidepressants.

Dr. Hanna’s clinical team at the Florida Spine Institute has used intravenous ketamine therapy to treat many types of disorders, including depression.  To learn more about intravenous ketamine infusions, click here.  To find out if ketamine therapy is right for you, please make an appointment with Dr. Hanna.

For full article, visit: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322315001535

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