Early results from those analyses should be available in the next year. Credit: Neuroscience NewsKetamine’s Leap from Fringe to Mainstream in Depression TreatmentFeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·February 8, 2024Summary: A new study involving 74 participants has demonstrated significant promise for intravenous ketamine in treating severe depression and bipolar disorder, conditions often resistant to traditional therapies.This research indicates that after just three ketamine infusions over 11 days, 52% of the participants achieved remission, with half of those frequently experiencing suicidal thoughts witnessing a dramatic decline in such impulses. The study’s findings underscore the potential of ketamine, not only as a powerful treatment option for the most challenging psychiatric disorders but also for its rapid effectiveness in reducing suicidal ideation.By exploring the cellular and molecular predictors of response to ketamine, this study opens new avenues for personalized treatment strategies, highlighting the critical role of advanced treatments in overcoming limitations of current psychiatric care.Key Facts:The Bio-K study showed that 52% of severely ill patients with depression or bipolar disorder achieved remission after three ketamine infusions.Half of the participants with frequent suicidal thoughts experienced a significant reduction in these impulses, highlighting ketamine’s potential in urgent psychiatric interventions.The study aims to identify biomarkers predicting the efficacy of ketamine treatment, offering hope for personalized approaches to treating severe mental health conditions.Source: University of MichiganUsing an old anesthesia drug to pull people out of the depths of severe depression has gone from fringe idea to widespread use in just a few years.Sparked by promising studies and stories of lives transformed, clinics offering intravenous infusions of ketamine have popped up nationwide. Some also offer a newer, more expensive, nasal spray version.But major questions remain about who ketamine can help, why some people get tremendous relief within days or weeks while others don’t, and the costs and benefits of different ways of delivering the drug. New findings just came out from a study that seeks to answer some of those questions. They add more evidence about the power of IV ketamine to help some of the most severely ill people with depression or bipolar disorder who haven’t gotten relief from other treatments – including many who have frequent suicidal thoughts.Called Bio-K, the study involved 74 people treated at four clinics in Michigan, Maryland and Minnesota. After just three infusions of ketamine over 11 days, 52% of participants saw their severe depression ease so much they achieved remission. Another 15% responded somewhat. Half of those who had thought often of suicide before receiving ketamine experienced a dramatic