Back to the Future: Ketamine and Nitrous Oxide in Major Refractory Depression
V. Whizar-Lugo, Cesar Heredia-Mota, R. Camacho
December 28, 2017 DOI: 10.15406/jaccoa.2017.09.00345 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review |
|---|---|
| Topics | Depression Esketamine Ketamine |
| Key findings | Only 30-40% of patients with major depression remit with usual antidepressant drugs. |
Abstract
Major depression (MD) is a very common chronic mental illness that causes substantial disability in millions of adolescents and adults throughout the world. In the United States of North America there is an annual risk of depression of 6.6%. Unfortunately, only 30-40% of patients will remit with the usual antidepressant drugs and there is a high risk of suicide attempts during the first month of treatment. Patients who do not respond to antidepressants have a poor quality of life with symptoms and risks as diverse as panic disorders, phobias, anxiety, anhedonia, impaired sexual satisfaction, unacceptable social behavior, low mood, attempts to suicide, just to name a few. There are several options to treat major depressive disorder, including psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, as well as non-traditional approaches [1-4].
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on ketamine for depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesizing the Evidence for Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: An International Expert Opinion on the Available Evidence and Implementation Adults with treatment-resistant depression | 2021 | Review | |
| Ketamine: a paradigm shift for depression research and treatment | 2019 | Review | |
| Rapid‐acting antidepressant ketamine, its metabolites and other candidates: A historical overview and future perspective | 2019 | Review | |
| Ketamine: A tale of two enantiomers | 2020 | Review | |
| Molecular mechanisms underlying the antidepressant actions of arketamine: beyond the NMDA receptor | 2021 | Review |