Bipolar depression is a manic-depressive illness that affects thousands of people in various age groups. The condition is marked by symptoms such as alternate moments of euphoria and depression, acute emotional episodes, volatile sleep changes and high and low energy levels. No confirmed cure has been discovered for this condition, but ketamine infusion treatments can prove to be a promising solution for many patients.
If the ketamine infusions are administered in a scientifically managed and controlled environment by an experienced treatment provider, it can help to improve the bipolar depression symptoms. Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles, led by Dr. Steven Mandel, provides ketamine infusion therapies to patients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and other cities in the Southern California area.
Current Research
The effects of ketamine as an anti-depressant are now an important subject of research at the National Mental Health Institute (NIMH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The research on ketamine, which has long been known by the name of ‘special k,’ is still continuing in this area.
Earlier studies have already indicated that ketamine can contribute to the quick reduction in bipolar disorder symptoms, but recent findings of NIMH researchers have advanced these findings to show how ketamine can impact patients of depression and bipolar depression in different ways.
NIMH’s Dr. Carlos Zarate announced in a press release that the institute’s findings now help to deconstruct what was earlier lumped together as depression. Dr. Zarate said: “We break out a component that responds uniquely to a treatment that works through different brain systems than conventional antidepressants — and link that response to different circuitry than other depression symptoms.”
Dr. Zarate and his team managed to achieve this after infusing the ketamine drug or a placebo in 36 patients suffering from different depressive levels of bipolar disorder. Researchers identified depression and mood changes once the patient was put on placebo and ketamine therapy. Separating the two enabled them to determine that ketamine produces a significant anti-depressive effect quicker, and independently of, other effects.
Researchers found that in about 40 minutes of taking ketamine, the mood of patients improved, while the depressive symptoms improved in about two hours.
Support to Brain Activity
Ketamine’s positive effects against depression can be narrowed down to a patient’s brain. The ketamine therapy triggers a part of the brain deep in the right hemisphere. This area is associated with increased expectation and motivation of a pleasurable experience. The lead study author, Kevin Lally, said that the minimal onset time of ketamine is a vital aspect of the study.
Compared to the prevailing range of anti-depressants, ketamine produces much quicker outcomes. Dr. Mandel says that ketamine works most effectively when it is delivered as an infusion directly into the bloodstream.
Patients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, and nearby areas have an opportunity to receive innovative and advanced ketamine infusion treatments from Dr. Mandel at the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles. Dr. Mandel believes that patients of bipolar disorder and depression have a very hopeful future, looking at the encouraging results of ketamine therapy.
For more information about treatments for depression, bipolar, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), fibromyalgia, pain syndromes and other conditions contact us at the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles in Southern California (Orange County) by clicking here or calling 310-270-0625
