Ketamine Shows Promise for Hard-to-Treat Depression in New Study
New York Times, May 26, 2023
The anesthetic ketamine is a promising alternative to electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, currently one of the fastest and most effective therapies for patients with difficult-to-treat depression. The study is the largest direct comparison between the two treatments. "It's this kind of rigorous, randomized, real-world pragmatic data that is robust and very clinically meaningful," said Dr. McIntyre.
The researchers randomly assigned intravenous ketamine or ECT to 365 patients. About half received ketamine twice a week, while the rest received ECT three times a week. At the end of the three-week treatment, 55% of patients in the ketamine group and 41% of patients in the ECT group reported a 50% or greater reduction in symptoms.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/well/mind/ketamine-ect-treatment-depression.html?smid=url-share
