FDA Research Supports IV Ketamine Therapy For Depression

CHICAGO, IL (JULY 2017) – IV Solution, the first private facility to offer clinically proven intravenous ketamine therapy for the treatment of depression, chronic pain and fibromyalgia in Chicago, is excited to learn of the FDA’s recent support of ketamine as an effective treatment for depression. An analysis of data from the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) supported previous findings that patients who took ketamine had significantly lower frequency of reports of depression than those taking any other drugs for pain, according to findings published in Scientific Reports.

“We are seeing unprecedented results in our patients,” says Dr. Bal Nandra, Chief Medical Officer at IV Solution who received his training from the University of Chicago Hospitals Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care. “We are very excited the FDA is publishing its findings as our patients are experiencing the positive effects firsthand. Ketamine is truly revolutionary.”

Researchers found this reduction in depression is specific to ketamine and is known to be much more rapid than current antidepressants, making this observed effect very promising for treatment of patients with acute depressive or suicidal episodes. The reduction of depression rates in ketamine patient records makes a case for the study of ketamine as a psychiatric drug and may be further explored as a monotherapy or adjunct therapy for depression, the study concluded.

Developed in the 1960’s as an anesthetic drug, ketamine has been used to successfully treat depression for more than 10 years. Ketamine has a very safe profile when administered in low doses by interacting with NMDA cell receptors to remap and stimulate nerve elements for long-term relief of clinical depression.

As opposed to oral antidepressant medications, which may only be effective in about 60 percent of patients and take up to a month or more to take effect often with undesirable side effects, ketamine is effective within minutes to hours with minimal side effects. After the first series of six 45-minute infusions for depression over a period of two weeks, most patients report immediate relief of symptoms for many weeks to months. In fact, some patients, with the guidance of their physician or mental health professional, may be able to decrease or even eliminate other medications as treatment progresses.

“I could feel a shift in mood after my first treatment for bi-polar depression,” said Connie O. of Chicago. “I wasn’t having anxiety in certain situations and suicidal ideation had vanished. My mood is more stable now and I feel lighter physically. My daughter even noticed a change telling me I’m suddenly more positive and the underlying hum of depression that has affected every aspect of my life for as long as I can remember is gone. I can honestly say IV ketamine therapy is a miracle.”

ABOUT IV SOLUTION

IV Solution, Ketamine Centers of Chicago, is the first private facility to offer clinically proven intravenous ketamine therapies for the treatment of depression, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and other ailments. Located at 712 North Dearborn Street in Downtown Chicago, the state-of-the-art medical facility in River North offers customized therapy in a private, confidential setting with anesthesiologists, registered nurses, and skilled staff onsite.

For more information, the public is invited to call 844-9-IV-MEDS (948-6337), or email info@ChicagoIVSolution.com.

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CLINICAL STUDIES

Ketamine has been shown to help rapidly reverse depression in a number of studies:

· https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/depression/65255

• Antidepressant Efficacy of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Two-Site Randomized Controlled Trial – Am J Psychiatry (Oct 2013)
• Rapid and Longer-Term Antidepressant Effects of Repeated Ketamine Infusions in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression – Biological Psychiatry (Aug 2013)
• Ketamine as a Novel Antidepressant: From Synapse to Behavior – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (Dec 2011)
• Serial infusions of low-dose ketamine for major depression – Journal of Psychopharmacology (May 2013)