Last Wednesday, September 20, the 1st Scientific Conference organized by The Clinic of Change (in partnership with ISBE - Evidence-Based Health Institute and ISPA - University Institute) took place, with the theme "Ketamine Psychotherapy: Clinical Evidence and Brain Mechanisms" and with David Nutt as keynote speaker. The conference was attended by more than a hundred people on a very busy morning in the PLMJ Advogados auditorium.
After a welcome from Victor Amorim Rodrigues, clinical director of The Clinic of Change, and introductory remarks from António Vaz Carneiro, moderator of the session, physician, president of ISBE, retired full professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon and director of Cochrane Portugal, David Nutt, the keynote speaker, opened things up with a 50-minute talk on his research into advances in psychedelic medicine and the scientific evidence for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
Based on a vast study in which he participated, the Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and Chief Research Advisor at Awakn Life Sciences presented unipolar depression as the biggest mental health problem in Europe and identified this type of therapy as "the future of psychiatry". In addition to all the data and studies shared throughout the lecture, David Nutt left a very expressive personal statement: "I stopped working in the British national health service because there was no room for change and I wanted to be able to give my patients the best chance of recovery."
Watch David Nutt's full presentation and the entire conference here.
After David Nutt's presentation, the panel of guest experts joined the debate on stage: Albino Oliveira-Maia, Ana Sofia Carvalho, António J. Santos and Jorge Gonçalves. Each was invited to give a free speech of around ten minutes on the topic, with António Vaz Carneiro presenting and moderating.
In the first presentation, Albino Oliveira-Maia, from the Champalimaud Foundation and Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at Nova Medical School, began by confessing "the enthusiasm that this area also brings to me", while highlighting the medical responsibility of "thinking about the safety and risks of an intervention of this kind".
In order to avoid the dangers of "wild uses", such as some already occurring in the US, and to avoid "jeopardizing new solutions of great value", such as this therapy, it is important to have regulation beyond that guaranteed individually by "a larger structure such as Awakn". In short: "It is clear that one of the important advantages of ketamine and esketamine is their enormous pharmacological safety, in their classic form in the field of medicine. But it is also true that the use of these drugs in the psychiatric field creates challenges."
Watch Albino Oliveira-Maia's full speech here.
Ana Sofia Carvalho, Professor of Ethics and Bioethics at ICBAS and Ethics Workpackage Leader at REPO4EU, also spoke of the "dangers of hyperbolization" and stressed that one of the strongest messages to come out of the conference should be that, with regard to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, we are talking about "a medical use for specific situations with no other clinical answers" because these are cases in which "the potential benefit outweighs the possible risks".
Ana Sofia Carvalho also highlighted how this debate shows us that "the body/mind duality doesn't make sense" and how a drug will always have "little effect" if it doesn't go hand in hand with "close monitoring" by a doctor. "Scientific evidence and technology are very important," but it is essential that a doctor has "the right moral skills and values": "In ten years' time, without this, I'm sure that Artificial Intelligence will be a much better doctor than he is."
Watch Ana Sofia Carvalho's full speech here.
The psychologist present at the panel discussion, a role highlighted by António J. Santos himself, began his speech by thanking David Nutt for his work: "I am a great admirer and I am very excited about the new bridges that are being built and the new possibilities that we are offering our patients. His contribution is admirable and I'm sure he will be an inspiration to many generations to come."
Based on his work in the field of developmental psychopathology, the Professor of Psychology at ISPA and member of the William James Center for Research presented the project he has been developing with children and young people with severe social inhibitions, expressing his happiness "because all this investment will also be able to contribute to improving the opportunities and potential life of these young people and their families".
Watch António J. Santos' full speech here.
Bringing the "perspective of mechanistic pharmacology", Jorge Gonçalves, Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Porto, presented, in three points, how the use of a drug is analyzed. In the specific case of ketamine, he spoke, among other things, about its ability to modulate neurogenesis: "It appears at a later stage, which means that it is a drug that is closer to the mouth and is able to act more quickly."
Identifying "a window of activity in which it is possible to maximize effects", Jorge Gonçalves concluded that, taking into account the usual three points of analysis, "ketamine obviously has its place, both in terms of efficacy and safety".
Watch Jorge Gonçalves' full speech here.
Closing the panel debate, in his role as moderator, and before moving on to questions from the audience, which were varied and always received with interest by the panelists, António Vaz Carneiro gave a concluding summary of the impressions he had gathered throughout the session.
He highlighted ketamine as a "remarkable example of the successful repositioning of a drug, which is a justified off-label indication, but which one day will hopefully be on-label", while warning of the obstacles and problems, which must be faced with proof of the benefits but also the risks. Looking at the scientific evidence and clinical trials, he stressed, before closing the panel, that "they already give us a very strong, very good structure today, so that we can be very confident, particularly in terms of safety".
Watch the conclusion of the panel debate by António Vaz Carneiro here.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you need any clarifications, information or additional materials regarding the Scientific Conference.
E-mail: geral@theclinicofchange.com
