Cleveland Clinic’s  Medical Innovation Summit concluded on Oct. 26 with the annual list of emerging medical technologies that could transform healthcare in the coming year. Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression listed as number 7!

The first placebo-controlled study of ketamine’s effect on social anxiety disorder has provides more evidence that the anesthetic could be helpful in severe cases.

“Many patients with anxiety continue to have impairing symptoms despite the first-line talk therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy) and first-line medications (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors),” said study authors Jerome H. Taylor of the University of Pennsylvania and Michael H. Bloch of Yale University.

Dr. Adam C. Young, MD is the Director, Acute Pain Service and Assistant Professor for Anesthesiology & Interventional Pain Medicine at Rush University Medical Center. Recently he agreed to share his thoughts with the National Pain Report on the use of ketamine for the treatment of chronic pain.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): The Bedrock of Depression Treatment & How Ketamine Infusions Can Help When SSRIs Aren’t Working!

Millions of people are affected by mental health disorders every year. Depression is among the greatest of these illnesses, and men are more likely than women to not seek treatment.  The “stigma” of our masculinity being threatened keeps thousands of men from seeking help. The thought of becoming vulnerable to something they cannot control, or looking weak in the eyes of their family and friends can allow this serious illness to spiral out of control. 

https://www.mma-today.com/

Ketamine is associated with significant pain relief among patients with refractory headaches, according to study findings presented at Anesthesiology 2017, held October 21-25 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ketamine Gets ALLL the Reactions

With all of the chatter about ketamine and its treatment of refractory depression, as well as chronic migraines, comes excitement, curiosity, doubts, and criticism - from both patients and healthcare providers alike. "It's really fascinating," says one doc, while another quips, "but it doesn't last long enough!" It's been deemed "the most exciting development in mental health" by some, while others express legitimate concerns about the long term effects of ketamine use. "Do they really send people down the k-hole!?," someone asked me last week. (The answer is NO. The dose administered is subanesthetic and subdissociative. Read more here. )

When anything or anyone new and different arrives on the scene, isn't this the way humans typically respond? That which challenges the status quo usually evokes discomfort and fear. 

The Struggle is Real

You don't like taking antidepressants. They take too long to work. The side effects of this antidepressant are worse than the last one you tried. Is your depression treatment resistant? Can Ketamine Infusions help?

You may have heard about physicians embracing the relatively new philosophy of Integrative or Functional Medicine. Our health care system has put demands on doctors that limit the amount of time spent with patients. Instead of being allowed the time with a patient to find the underlying causes to illness, physicians are rushed and overwhelmed, and are, thus, forced to treat symptoms.