This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Call for roll out of Ketamine treatment for depression
A study published in The Lancet Psychiatry has called for the trial of ketamine to treat depression to be rolled out as a mainstream treatment.
Dr Rupert McShane, who has led a trial in Oxford, since 2011 has said that ketamine can work on tens of thousands of patients who have depression but have not benefitted from other drugs.
In the trial, of the 101 people taking part who had failed to find a successful depression treatment, 42 of them responded to the ketamine.
Ketamine is currently licensed to be used as an anaesthetic but has a reputation as an illegal party drug. The dosage of ketamine used in the depression treatment is much lower than that used by people for recreational use.
McShane said: “We think that patients' treatment should be in specialist centres and formally tracked in national or international registries. This will help us to pick up any safety or abuse problems with longer term use and narrow down what dose, frequency, route and durations of treatment works best."
Commenting on the paper, Prof Allan Young, from the The Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “Before ketamine can be recommended for use in clinical practice, extensive research is required to understand how to optimally use ketamine for treating depression.
"The Royal College of Psychiatrists has concerns for patient safety and hence recommends mental health practitioners to proceed with caution when treating patients with ketamine."
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