According to the study it could give Prozac some competition in time...in just 24 hours it kicks in..Prozac now is also available as a generic as fluoxetine....BD
LONDON, May. 2, 2008 (Reuters) — Scientists have unraveled how a horse tranquilizer and hallucinogenic night club drug known as "Special K" can ease depression, researchers said on Friday.
Ketamine, which can also cause feelings of detachment, could pave the way for new treatments for people suffering from depression, the researchers added.Their study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found ketamine restores to normal the orbifrontal cortex, an
area of the brain located above the eyes that is overactive in depressed people.
In their study, Deakin and his team gave intravenous ketamine to 33 healthy male volunteers and took minute-by-minute brain scans to see what was happening as the drug took effect. Images from the scans showed that the drug -- also used as a battlefield anesthetic -- worked quickly, Deakin said.
The results were surprising because the researchers had expected that the ketamine would instead affect the part of the brain that controls psychosis, he added. "There was some activity there but more striking was the switching off of the depression center," Deakin said.
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