News: Old Drug, New Tricks

Ketamine, better known as the club drug “Special K,” may alleviate depression when all other treatments have failed—a finding researchers stumbled across by accident. While ketamine injections are FDA-approved for use as an anesthetic, some hospitals and even outpatient clinics are beginning to offer the drug as an off-label treatment for severe, intractable depression. Unlike most popular antidepressants, ketamine can directly reverse the neuronal damage caused by chronic stress. It amps up production of glutamate, a neurotransmitter that has become a focus of depression research in recent years. Glutamate repairs the lost neural connections found in the brains of many people with depression. Ketamine’s effects can take hold within hours and last up to 10 days—helpful for suicidal patients.

Not everybody responds to ketamine, but some patients report feeling that their depression has been alleviated, notes Carlos Zarate, the lead investigator of ketamine research at the National Institute of Mental Health. By quickly lifting the cloud of depression, the drug can also give therapists a chance to intervene. While ketamine has already shown promise, it will still be years before larger clinical trials can test its safety and efficacy for mainstream use.