Tinnitus Re: [kj] RE: OT: MAKE IT STOP!

[Blazingstar418]

Ahoy Alex!

--- Alex Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net> wrote:
---------------------------------
Hmmmm.... perhaps not the miracle drug after all.

 Then again, now you combat the depression with
Ketamine!
Legitimately even.

>  Anesthetic may help severe depression
> 
> *Mon Aug 7, 6:03 PM ET*
> 
> NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A single dose of the
> anesthetic ketamine appears
> to reduce depression in patients who show little
> improvement with standard
> medications, new research suggests.
> 
> The beneficial effects start less than 2 hours after
> the drug is given and
> last for about 7 days, according to results of a
> study conducted by
> investigators at the
>     National Institutes of
>
Health<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=National%0AInstitutes+of+Health>in
> Bethesda, Maryland.
> 
> A major problem with antidepressant medications is
> their late onset of
> effect, Dr. Carlos A. Zarate, Jr, and his colleagues
> note. Any option that
> would provide an antidepressant effect during this
> lag time would be of
> major benefit.
> 
> The researchers decided to look at ketamine as a
> treatment because it blocks
> an enzyme system that seems to play a key role in
> depression.
> 
> Their study group included 17 patients with severe
> depression that failed to
> respond to at least two trials of antidepressants.
> They were required to
> have a score of at least 18 on a standard depression
> test called the
> Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS).
> 
> In the trial, the participants received an
> intravenous infusion of ketamine
> or inactive "placebo," then switched to an infusion
> of the other agent 1
> week later. To assess the onset and duration of
> effect, Zarate and his team
> used the HDRS at 60 minutes prior to the infusion,
> and at 40, 80, 110, and
> 230 minutes afterwards, then on days 1, 2, 3, and 7
> days.
> 
> As reported in the Archives of General Psychiatry,
> patients treated with
> ketamine scored significantly lower on the HDRS at
> 110 minutes, lasting
> through 7 days, compared with those receiving
> placebo treatment.
> 
> The HDRS at day 1 fell by up to 90 percent,
> indicating a substantial
> improvement in depression. Seventy-one percent of
> patients were classified
> as treatment responders and 29 percent had little or
> no evidence of
> depression on day 1 after the ketamine dose. The
> treatment response was
> maintained for at least 1 week by 35 percent of
> patients.
> 
> The authors note that the time that the
> antidepressant response began and
> lasted was "nearly identical" for each subject. They
> say, "The relatively
> prolonged antidepressant effect that occurred with
> ketamine is remarkable
> considering its short half-life, which is
> approximately 2 hours."
> 
> None of the patients had any response to placebo.
> 
> "To our knowledge, there has never been a report of
> any other drug or
> (therapy) that results in such a dramatic, rapid and
> prolonged response with
> a single administration," the investigators write.
> 
> SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, August 2006.
> 

 
Alex in NYC

 Love, 
A L P





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