The class B drug ketamine could help to treat people suffering from severe suicidal thoughts, a study has suggested.
Researchers from the University of Montpellier in France said the sedative could save lives, as it appears to alleviate dark thoughts in patients admitted to hospital for their mental health.
The finding was based on a controlled trial involving 156 adults with severe suicidal ideas, which ran from April 2015 to March 2019 in seven French teaching hospitals.
The participants included people with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. However, patients with a history of schizophrenia were excluded from the study.
Although the team found the side effects of ketamine were minor and had diminished by day four, they cautioned that more research was needed to examine its benefits.
“Ketamine is a drug with a potential for abuse. Longer follow-up of larger samples will be necessary to examine benefits on suicidal behaviours and long term risks,” they wrote.
Commenting on the study, Riccardo De Giorgi, a PhD student at the University of Oxford, said: "These findings indicate that ketamine is rapid, safe, and effective in the short term for acute care in hospitalised suicidal patients.”
Source: The Independent, 4 February 2022
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment