Understanding Ketamine

Ketamine is an anesthetic that has been used on both humans and animals for over 50 years. In the last decade, a great deal of clinical research has been conducted by leading institutions all over the world proving intravenous ketamine’s efficacy and safety in the treatment of major depression, bipolar depression, PTSD and severe anxiety as well as certain pain disorders. These studies regularly report a 70% success rate or higher. Yale University, The Mayo Clinic, Mt. Sinai Medical School,The National Institute of Mental Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, and The Black Dog Institute are just a few of those institutions who have conducted studies. Giving ketamine intravenously is the only method of administration that has been clinically proven to be effective and thus the only method currently used by Dr. Prashad. For some patients, ketamine infusion therapy is quite simply life changing and unlike any other treatment currently available given its rapid, robust effects and lack of side effects between treatments.

Below is a graph charting the response in an actual patient receiving ketamine infusions. This patient reported symptoms consistent with severe depression prior to treatment. At the completion of 6 infusions, he reported minimal depressive symptoms. This was over a period of less than 2 weeks.