Ketamine was once used mainly as an anesthetic on battlefields and in operating rooms. Now, this medication is gaining ground as a promising treatment for some cases of major depression, which is the leading cause of disability worldwide. In the US, recent estimates show 16 million adults had an episode of major depression in a year. Suicide rates rose substantially between 1999 and 2016, increasing by more than 30% in 25 states. Because of its rapid action, ketamine could have a role to play in helping to prevent suicide.

Ketamine Depression Treatment Centre

Why is ketamine exciting for treating depression?

If a person responds to Ketamine Depression Treatment Centre, it can rapidly reduce suicidality (life-threatening thoughts and acts) and relieve other severe symptoms of depression. Ketamine also can be useful for treating depression combined with anxiety.

Other treatments for suicidal thoughts and depression often take weeks or even months to take effect, and some people need to try several medications or approaches to gain relief. It is true for talk therapies, antidepressant medicines, transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS), and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which is currently the most effective treatment for major depression that fails to respond to other therapies.

How does ketamine work?

It’s not entirely clear how ketamine works. Because it exerts an antidepressant effect through a new mechanism, ketamine may help people successfully manage depression when other treatments have not worked.

One likely target for ketamine is NMDA receptors in the brain. By binding to these receptors, ketamine appears to increase the amount of a neurotransmitter called glutamate in the spaces between neurons. Glutamate then activates connections in another receptor, called the AMPA receptor. Together, the initial blockade of NMDA receptors and activation of AMPA receptors leads to the release of other molecules that help neurons communicate with each other along new pathways. A process known as synaptogenesis is likely to affect mood, thought patterns, and cognition.

Ketamine also may influence depression in other ways. For example, it might reduce signals involved in inflammation, which has been linked to mood disorders, or facilitate communication within specific brain areas. Most likely, ketamine works in several ways simultaneously, many of which are being studied.

Learn more at https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketamine-for-major-depression-new-tool-new-questions-2019052216673

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