Ketamine prescriptions are linked to a lower risk of suicidal thoughts in people with recurrent major depressive disorder compared to other common antidepressants. Analyzing electronic health records from over 500,000 patients, the risk of suicidal ideation was 37% lower within the first week, 33% lower within the first month, and 22% lower over nine months. The protective effect was strongest in adults over 24, females, males, and White patients. This real-world evidence suggests ketamine's long-term benefits for reducing suicidal ideation, though optimal dosing and mechanisms need further study.
Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Asian patients with moderate-to-severe recurrent major depressive disorder received ketamine at lower rates than non-Hispanic White patients. Esketamine was used less often among Black patients, more often among Hispanic patients, and at similar rates among Asian patients compared with White patients. Black and White patients who received either treatment had more co-occurring medical and psychiatric conditions than those who did not. The findings indicate significant racial-ethnic disparities in access to these advanced therapies, especially for Black patients.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, smell loss (olfactory dysfunction) has become more common, but effective treatments are scarce. Anecdotal reports suggest that serotonergic psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin might help. Analyzing 125 online posts from people with self-reported smell loss, 108 (86.4%) reported improvements in their sense of smell after using psychedelics. Of those, 55 (50.1%) first noticed improvement during the psychedelic experience, and 42 (38.8%) said the improvement lasted at least one day. No statistical link was found between dose and how long the benefit lasted for either psilocybin or LSD. These findings indicate that further research is needed to explore whether these substances could become a clinical treatment for smell loss.