Ketamine may be promising treatment for depression among patients with bipolar disorde

Moral of the story:  While it may sound scary, Ketamine has been used for a variety of purposes and may hold promise in an area still looking for a good drug.

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 8/3/2010

Ketamine may be promising treatment for depression among patients with bipolar disorder.

The Los Angeles Times (8/2, Roan) "Booster Shots" blog reported that the prescription medication ketamine [ketamine hydrochloride], which is "used as an anesthetic -- and used illegally as a party drug at raves -- may have a role in treating people with bipolar depression, according to astudy " published August 2 in the Archives of General Psychiatry. In a study of 18 patients, "researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health found that 71% of the bipolar patients who had not responded to other treatments, experienced significant improvement in depression symptoms after a single intravenous infusion of ketamine. Most of these patients responded within 40 minutes of receiving the drug," and the effects lasted for approximately three days.

        Time (8/3, Cloud) reports, "All patients were randomly and blindly given one 0.5 mg/kg dose of ketamine and one equal dose of placebo saline through an IV drip two weeks apart. Patients taking ketamine were significantly more likely than those on the placebo to show short-term improvement in their depression symptoms. This is crucial for bipolar patients who are in depressive crisis and at high risk of suicide: if you can give them something to block short-term suicidal impulses, you may be able to settle them -- and then treat them for long-term problems."

        "Ketamine acts on the brain's glutamatergic system, which plays a role in information processing and memory formation,"HealthDay (8/2, Preidt) reported. "Recent research suggests that dysfunction in this brain system may contribute to bipolar disorder, noted Dr. Nancy Diazgranados and colleagues at the US National Institute of Health." But, even though "ketamine has been used off-label as an experimental treatment for depression, it has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for that use, according to the US National Institutes of Health." WebMD (8/2, Woznicki) also covered the study.