Hope and Fast Treatment for the Severely Depressed.
For one-third of U.S. patients with depression, standard medications aren’t enough. With nearly 43,000 suicides a year, the need for effective treatment looms large. In 2013, ketamine, a drug commonly used for anesthesia, was studied for its ability to inhibit nerve cells’ N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Within 24 hours of receiving ketamine, 70 percent of patients with treatment-resistant depression saw an improvement in symptoms.Cleveland Clinic experts predict that 2017 will be the year that NMDA-receptor-targeting medications become widely available.