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ketamine may be best known as a sedative for horses and party drugs, but in recent years scientists have increasingly researched the potential of the drug for the treatment of severe depression. The drug is usually administered intravenously in a specialized clinic, but a new slowly releasing tablet could help make it accessible to more people.

in a study published on June 24th in the Nature Medicine found researchers that a tablet with ketamine had antidepressant effects for more than 150 people who had not responded to other drugs.

"The fact that this could potentially take this at home suddenly makes this medication much easier to give," says the main author of the study, Paul Glue, a psychiatrist at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Avoidance of side effects

Some doctors are already using ketamine to treat depression, and previous studies have shown that it can cause significant improvements to the symptoms among those affected.

The drug is usually administered intravenously or by a nasal spray. Both methods can cause side effects such as high blood pressure, increased heartbeat and dissociation, which means that people feel split off from their body and surroundings.

Previous analyzes suggest that slowly releasing forms of ketamine tend to have fewer side effects. Glue and his colleagues therefore suggested that a long -term -free tablet could be a well -tolerated and practical option for people with severe or therapy -resistant depression. They developed a ketamine-containing pill called R-107 and gave them to 231 study participants, all of whom suffered from a major depressed disorder that had not improved despite at least two antidepressants.