NIH Radio
Patients Taking Experimental Medication Experience Quick Relief of Depression Symptoms
Brief Description:
Hours instead of weeks! That's how soon patients suffering from depression get relief from their symptoms when taking an experimental antidepressant medication, according to a study by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Transcript:
Akinso: Hours instead of weeks! That's how soon patients suffering from depression get relief from their symptoms when taking an experimental antidepressant medication, according to a study by the National Institute of Mental Health. Although current antidepressants can take four to six weeks to work on most patients, some treatment- resistant patients have to wait eight weeks or more to see results. Some of the participants in the study, who previously had tried an average of six medications without relief, continued to show benefits over the next seven days after just a single dose of ketamine, a medication usually used in higher doses as an anesthetic in humans and animals according to lead researcher, Dr. Carlos Zarate.
Zarate: During the time it takes for the antidepressant to take full effects, which is weeks and months on patients maybe at risk of self harm or harm to their personal professional lives. If we could reduce the burden to the individual, to the family, to society, patients maybe able to return quickly to their daily routine and to their life and that would be of enormous public benefit.
Akinso: Dr. Zarate said it's important to remember that ketamine is in the research phase; however he's optimistic that the research may lead to developing medications which may eliminate the weeks or months patients have to wait for antidepressant treatments to kick in. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 8/18/2006
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Carlos Zarate
Topic: Depression
Institute(s): NIMH
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