Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health announced a study recently in which 18 chronically depressed patients infused with low dosages of ketamine improved within two hours; 71 percent improved within a day, and nearly 30 percent were depression-free by that time within 24 hours. These were people who had been dealing with depression from three to 47 years. These people had failed to respond to just about every drug on the market.Ketamine seems to do something entirely new; it focuses on glutamate, a chemical neurotransmitter that is involved in electrical flow among brain cells. So far it has not been targeted by any other antidepressant medication.
Paxil and Prozac work backwards and in about half of anti depressant using population eventually find the problem. In this small trial, glutamate got right to problem. (Washington Post/free registration required)
