What does ketamine exactly do?
Ketamine has a long and well-researched history as a dissociative anesthetic, and more recently, it has been shown to be an effective treatment for mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation. This includes treatment-resistant versions of these disorders.
It is the only psychedelic substance now available for use in therapeutic modalities that is prescribed by a ketamine near me, and it is accessible to the general public in the majority of nations throughout the world. It has a proven track record of good safety and efficacy. Additionally, psilocybin is becoming more readily accessible as medicine in a number of states and countries, including the Netherlands.
Ketamine’s History
Ketamine was created in 1962 by Calvin Stevens, a professor of organic chemistry at Wayne State University in Michigan. In 1970, the FDA granted the US government a medicinal authorization to use it as a dissociative anesthetic. It was largely used to induce and maintain anesthesia in patients undergoing major surgery due to its pain-relieving and dissociative effects.
Ketamine was added to the WHO’s list of essential drugs because it has developed into a generic substance that is easily affordable for treatment application. Numerous studies on the safety, efficacy, and tolerance of ketamine as a dissociative anesthetic were conducted.
In the early 2000s, ketamine’s antidepressant properties which were known but not actively studied became the subject of more deliberate scientific examination and research. These early tests produced encouraging outcomes.
Ketamine is currently employed as an anesthetic with a number of benefits:
- The ability to breathe is unaffected.
- does not significantly cause bronchodilation doesn’t increase heart rate (important for individuals in shock).
- possesses anti-inflammatory qualities
- Licensed professionals also employ off-label use to treat mental health issues like depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and others.
Is Ketamine Therapy Legal?
Since its discovery in the 1960s, ketamine has a long history of safety in surgical and therapeutic uses and is approved for use by registered practitioners. Ketamine’s range of therapeutic applications and potential use-cases broaden and develop as it is studied more thoroughly.
Ketamine use is regulated, so only qualified medical professionals with the skills and expertise to support its safe and efficient use may administer or prescribe it. When used in connection with a surgical procedure or as directed by a licensed practitioner, it is completely legal to use. It is not permitted to use this drug in any way that is not permitted by a clinician’s prescription and instruction.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized ketamine for use as an anesthetic in medicine since 1970.
A qualified physician may also prescribe ketamine “off-label”. It seems sense that the phrase “off-label” would be confusing. One common misunderstanding concerning “off-label” prescribing is that it is either prohibited or unreliable.
Is ketamine risk-free?
It has been used widely and safely by anesthesiologists during operations on young children, elderly patients, and patients in between.
Ketamine is still used in clinical settings because it is seen as safe, well-tolerated, and effective, and it is used in a variety of socioeconomic contexts due to its low cost.
The fact that ketamine is utilized to treat a wide (and expanding) spectrum of symptoms and disorders in many medical and therapeutic contexts speaks to the drug’s safety profile.
These applications include:
For use during surgical procedures
Analgesia is used to alleviate a variety of excruciating illnesses, injuries, and treatments.
A growing number of practitioners are starting to follow the science and treat disorders using off-label ketamine prescriptions in order to combat the symptoms of severe sadness and anxiety.
These treatments include the introduction of science that has validated alternative therapeutic indications for ketamine treatments (depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD).
This has aided in the transition of ketamine from hospitals to outpatient clinics and telemedicine applications, along with a paradigm change in novel mental health therapy.
There are many other types of outpatient clinic models, and you might receive care from anesthesiologists, psychiatric or general practitioners, or, in some circumstances, a psychotherapist working in tandem with a prescriber.
The use of expensive or sophisticated medical equipment, such as external oxygen sources, power supply, or big clinical teams, is not required when using ketamine. The chance of negative outcomes brought on by medical or application error is decreased when the treatment process is made simpler.
The following are a some of the contraindications:
- Uncontrolled glaucoma, increased intracranial pressure, or heart problems can all be caused by high blood pressure.
- a woman who is expecting or nursing
- Thyroid hormone overproduction (thyrotoxicosis)
- Active mania, whether or not it is accompanied with psychosis
It’s simpler to think of this in terms of ketamine’s half-life, as it is with any molecule. The duration of time needed for a chemical’s half to be excreted from the body is known as its half-life.
The body quickly breaks down ketamine, with a half-life of roughly 2.5 hours. This means that after 2.5 hours, 50% of the ketamine had left the bloodstream. Coffee, on the other hand, has a five-hour half-life.
Given this, 10 to 12 hours after the initial injection, the majority of the ketamine is eliminated from your body. The subjective experience, which subsides after about one hour, is distinct from this.
The Psychological Basis of Ketamine
Ketamine therapy for mental health problems is still a relatively unexplored field of study. To demonstrate the breadth and depth of ketamine’s applications and potential, more research is being done.
Several primary research areas have already been published:
- Ketamine therapy for severe depression or depression that is resistant to treatment
- Potential therapy for social and general anxiety disorders with ketamine
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder (BPD), and substance use disorders (SUD) are all conditions that are treated with ketamine.
- Treatment of suicidal thoughts with ketamine