What Is Ketamine Therapy? How It Works and Helps Severe Depression

Chronic depression is an illness that affects 3.8% of people around the world. When left untreated, it can have a devastating impact on relationships, work, and health. Even with all the proven treatments for depression (medication, talking therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy), some people don’t respond. And although physical exercise can help, it isn’t helpful for everyone.

Patients who have tried other antidepressant medications with no success may find ketamine therapy in Miami to help relieve their depressive symptoms. It’s the only antidepressant medication that works within hours instead of weeks, and it has revolutionized treatments for depression. Read to learn what ketamine therapy is, how it works, and how it helps with severe depression.

What’s Ketamine Therapy?

Ketamine therapy is a medical treatment using ketamine to activate the glutamate system in the body.

The glutamate system is one of the most crucial neurotransmitter systems in the human body. It plays a role in many processes, including memory formation and learning, movement control and coordination, pain sensation and perception, and mood regulation.

The glutamate can control the signaling of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that dampens nerve impulses.

Mood regulation, among other cognitive processes, is governed partly by the brain’s balance of glutamate and GABA. Alterations in glutamate signals decrease synapses and other brain connections, causing stress and depression. There is evidence that ketamine can replenish glutamate receptors, allowing for the formation of new synapses in the brain. 

How Does Ketamine Therapy Work?

Ketamine works differently than other antidepressants and treatments for depression. It affects receptors in the brain that are involved in mood regulation. These receptors are known as NMDA receptors, meaning “N-methyl-D-aspartate.” The NMDA receptor is a protein in neurons that plays a vital role in learning and memory. It also regulates pain signals from one body part to another (like when you touch something hot or bump your knee).

The  NMDA receptors prevent them from receiving messages from other body parts — including those involved in mood regulation. The drug raises the levels of dopamine and serotonin.

When ketamine binds to these receptors, it blocks them from being activated normally by glutamate, another neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in learning and memory. Glutamate controls how nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals through synapses (tiny gaps between nerve cells). When this happens, more glutamate gets released by one nerve cell than can be taken back up by another nerve cell nearby — so

Depending on the brain’s initial state, various responses are possible. People with long-term depression, for instance, have a reduction in the synapses in their brains, which are the connections between nerve cells that allow them to communicate.

The first dose of ketamine administered in a clinical setting has been shown to stimulate the regrowth of these connections within 24 hours. A person’s response to ketamine’s antidepressant effects improves as their synaptic plasticity increases.

Forms of  Ketamine

Ketamine is an anesthetic used in veterinary medicine for decades. It’s used on animals or humans. However, it isn’t just a recreational drug. People use it as an antidepressant to treat depression and anxiety. Also, it can treat PTSD, other mental illnesses, and pain management issues.

• Nasal spray. This form of ketamine is sprayed into your nose and absorbed through the mucous membranes in your nasal passages. It has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for depression when other treatments haven’t worked or patients can’t tolerate side effects from their current medications. It isn’t clear how much ketamine enters the body or how quickly it does so compared to other forms of ketamine.
• Intravenous (IV): It’s Available in various concentrations depending on the strength needed by patients. It’s administered through an IV line and can be given at home and in the hospital. Injectable ketamine is typically administered through an IV infusion and can cause rapid onset of action within minutes.
• Intramuscular Injection: It requires a medical professional to administer the drug. The needle is inserted into the muscle tissue, usually in the hip. This method treats depression and chronic pain because it quickly enters the bloodstream and distributes throughout the body.

Cost of Ketamine

Esketamine, a nasal spray approved by the FDA for treating depression, is the only one covered by insurance.

Most insurance plans won’t cover the cost of IV ketamine treatment for depression until the FDA approves it. An infusion can cost up to $450 if you don’t have health insurance. If you follow the research-based schedule of six infusions spread over three weeks, you can expect to pay between $3,000 and $4,000, if manifactured through factories which have device Manufacturing Capabilities.

An increasing amount of scientific research supports the use of ketamine therapy to treat severe depression. This non-addictive, fast-acting treatment is an exciting alternative to electroconvulsive therapy and potentially to antidepressants. Providers are discovering improved efficacy when using regimens of ketamine with fewer side effects than traditional antidepressants.