Ketamine treatment for depression

Ketamine is commonly used as general anesthesia. According to some preliminary studies, it is has shown a remarkable antidepressant qualities. It can act very rapidly and can give instant results. This drug can pave path for researchers to discover more rapid acting antidepressants. The drug’s main side effect is hallucination of the patient. Ketamine is used as an animal tranquilizer.

It is also an illicit drug which is called “special k.” It can relieve you from depression in just two hours and can continue for a week. The current antidepressants take weeks to act but ketamine can give instant results. Studies confirm that patients treated with the current antidepressants have a high risk of committing suicide in the first week. Ketamine can nullify the risk as it acts almost instantly. Most of the antidepressants that are available in the market increase the level of serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical found in brains. Ketamine reduces the effect of glutamate. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that is directly linked with brain.

This is the reason ketamine acts faster than any other conventional antidepressants. Ketamine has hallucinogenic properties which are always criticized by the researchers. Patients treated with Ketamine see trails of light which is a hallucination. Researchers are working on the derivatives of Ketamine which will not have side effects.