- Can a party drug really be used to treat depression?
That's what we're talking about
on this week's Wednesday Checkup.
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I wanna talk to you guys about last week's keto video.
I know many of you dropped to the comment section
that you wanted me to watch some video
about a one-star hospital where someone went
to get their ringworm treated.
And you wanted me to react to that video.
I started my (laughs) reaction to that video,
and I had to stop it,
because I didn't think there was enough useful information.
Let's just say it didn't have enough educational value
for me (laughs) to continue
and give you my honest feedback on it.
I respect all creators out there
that are trying to do their own thing,
but this channel is about having a good time
and learning something in the process.
And I don't think we could have used that video
for that purpose.
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Okay, okay, so ketamine nasal spray.
Ketamine to many people is just known as a party drug.
This is because in the 1990s, it rose to popularity
in the rave culture, using it as a way to get high.
Enter what's known as the K-hole.
People have even used it to mitigate the effects
of a come down from using MDMA or ecstasy.
But ketamine actually has legitimate medical uses.
We've been using it for some time now as an anesthetic,
as a way to control pain, as a way to maintain anesthesia.
Veterinarians also use ketamine to do the same with animals.
But recently, headlines have been made
where ketamine may be soon approved by the FDA
as a way to treat depression.
Before everybody gets very excited and starts saying,
"Wow, we're gonna be using a party drug for depression?
"How is that beneficial?"
Or, "Should I stop taking my medications
"that my doctor prescribed me and ask about this?"
As with most stories that run amok in the media,
there's some truth to this,
and there's also some things that are overblown.
And that's what I wanna cover today.
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Within the last 10 or 20 years,
there's been mounting anecdotal evidence
that ketamine can be used as a treatment for depression.
Basically, stories or case reports or case studies
from doctors successfully using ketamine
as a way to treat depression.
Based on this successful anecdotal evidence,
Johnson and Johnson has actually pursued clinical trials
to find out whether or not ketamine can successfully be used
to treat depression.
And what we're finding is that in cases
where we have a very, very specific subtype of depression,
treatment-resistant depression,
which means that traditional medications
that we have a lot of success with don't work
on this patient.
In those very specific subsets of patients,
we see success with ketamine,
from this preliminary research.
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Let's talk about why there's so much hype
about this ketamine nasal spray.
First, there hasn't been a breakthrough in the treatment
of depression with the pharmaceutical in a really long time.
Obviously, that alone is gonna get headlines,
gonna get doctors excited.
The real reason why I think doctors are excited is
because of how fast ketamine works.
Traditional meds that we use for depression can take
up to six weeks to see a proper result,
and for someone who's actively, severely suicidal,
that may not be a sufficient treatment.
But what these preliminary studies done
by Johnson and Johnson have shown is
that ketamine acts very quickly,
sometimes as early as four hours into taking it.
So you can see why doctors may get excited by a medication
that can rapidly reduce the amount
of suicidal ideations a person may have.
Also, since this medication ideally is gonna be used
for those who suffer from treatment-resistant depression,
that provides hope for these people.
And that can sometimes bring a lot of hype
to a medication on its own.
Also, I think it's really important to mention this here.
Just because I'm talking about pharmaceuticals
for depression, that's not because I think
that pharmaceuticals are the only
or best way to treat depression.
In fact, what we've seen is that therapy,
specifically cognitive-behavioral therapy, can be as good
or even at times better at treating depression
and decreasing the likelihood
that it will return in the future.
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I think it's important to sort of touch on the subject
of the over-prescription of antidepressant medications,
because I do think that's a problem.
And folks are quick to blame doctors
and pharmaceutical companies for pushing the medications,
and while I do think that pharmaceutical companies
with their direct-to-consumer advertising,
which I'm not a fan of,
are certainly part of the problem,
doctors sometimes can be part of the problem,
'cause they may not be totally educated
on the risks, benefits, the timing schedules.
But there's also this other side
that's not discussed enough,
where A, patients are directly requesting a quick solution
in terms of a medication to solve their problem,
despite a doctor's initial recommendations.
And two, the lack of access
to quality mental health professionals is truly disturbing
within our healthcare system.
Sometimes, I meet a patient,
and I think they're gonna be perfect candidate
for cognitive-behavioral therapy.
I think that medications are not ideal
in their given scenario, but when they go
and try to make an appointment with either a therapist,
a counselor, a psychiatrist, psychologist, whatever it is,
they have so many barriers that they need to go through.
They need to call 10 different doctors,
see who's taking new patients,
whether they need to pay a huge deductible,
and all of these things prevent folks
from getting the quality services that they need.
And as a result, they're forced to take the medication
and hope it works out with just a pharmaceutical.
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My bottom line when it comes to this new intranasal spray.
I wanna make sure
that the quality studies here are concluded.
We get a medication quickly and safely to those who need it,
especially if you're actively suicidal.
You're receiving treatment for depression,
and it's not working.
And you finally have hope that there's this other medication
on the horizon, but you have to understand
that doctors still have a lot of questions
when it comes to ketamine.
How long patients should be taking this medication?
How feasible is this?
Is this gonna be too expensive
for the majority of my patients to acquire this?
Ketamine is not gonna be just prescribed
to you and you take it home.
This is gonna be a medication where you're gonna need to go
to a healthcare professional's office or hospital setting.
They're gonna administer it to you once a week,
and then you keep coming back for treatments
as long as it's prescribed to you.
This alone can be a barrier.
Think about transportation, cost, all of these things.
Yes, there's new hope, but there's also a responsibility
that both Johnson and Johnson and doctors like myself have
to you as a patient in order to make sure
that I'm giving you a medication that has more benefits
than harms, that it's well studied.
I know how to dose it properly.
I know what adverse effects exist.
I know how to change the therapy.
All of these things don't quite have the answers just yet,
but I remain optimistic.
I remain hopeful that we can find out these answers,
find the perfect instance when this medication can be used,
and as a result, we can get patients
who are suffering some proper help.
On a lighter note, if you haven't watched my 30 days
of keto video, click here.
And as always, stay happy and healthy.
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