The benefits of Ketamine treatment span numerous conditions. Right now, it is employed experimentally for mental and emotional health issues, chronic pain conditions, and addiction disorders.
Rapid antidepressant properties
This is what brought intravenous Ketamine treatment to the attention of both the medical community and the public in the 2000s. Soon, sufferers of other mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal ideations, bipolar disorder (BPD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), began Ketamine trials through clinical studies and direct private treatment.
Opioid addiction
This class of drugs is ravaging the United States as highly addictive pain relievers are prescribed in excess. Certainly, many such cases warranted those prescriptions, but there are millions of people with legitimate cases of severe, recurrent pain requiring relief on the level that opioids provide. Finding analgesic alternatives that are less addictive and sufficiently efficacious has proven difficult.
Postoperative Pain Management
Ketamine has a history of use in pain relief following surgical procedures. The mechanism by which it reduces pain differs from that of conventional opioid therapy, making it an attractive option. Refractory pain conditions like chronic pain syndrome (CRPS), neuropathy, and migraine headaches, may be manageable by analgesics like Ketamine with a lower risk of addiction and abuse.
Substance abuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs
Regarding substance abuse particularly, prior research shows promise. Beginning in the 1980s, Russian physicians tested Ketamine as an aid to cessation from alcohol. Treatment reduced cravings and prolonged time to relapse.
Ketamine’s Future
Every day the research and patient community find new applications to explore. Because Ketamine is generally safe, the risk to reward ratio is frequently favorable.