Uses of Ketamine You Might Not Be Aware of

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that is used as a medication for various purposes. The use of ketamine medically started as a form of anesthesia, and because of its calming effect to reduce pain, the drug had its breakthrough in treating severe mental health issues, mainly as ketamine nasal spray used for depression. Researchers have found that Ketamine can be utilized in various ways.

Severe clinical depression

Ketamine has proven to be much more effective than electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Recently, psychiatrists have increased the utilization of the drug as Ketamine nasal spray for depression and sedatives in IV form to treat severe clinical depression. They claim that Ketamine is an excellent alternative to improve an individual’s mental health, without involving anesthesia or any memory problems.

Anesthesia

Ketamine is an approved class III scheduled drug which can be used by professionals in the medical field as an anesthetic due to the fact that it does not affect the blood pressure or the breathing rate. This enables the practitioners to ease the patients into sleep for surgical procedures as well as avoid discomfort while performing various medical tests such as skin grafts, dental extractions and orthopedic diagnosis. In addition, Ketamine does not require any additional electricity supply of oxygen which makes it an inexpensive and suitable option. The bronchodilating properties of Ketamine also make it an exceptional choice when operating on patients suffering from asthma.

Relieving pain in humans and animals

Ketamine is an analgesic meaning that it has the ability to induce relaxation or loss of consciousness, which helps in relieving pain in humans and animals. The drug can be either injected into a muscle or given through an intravenous (IV) line. Furthermore, hospitals use Ketamine to control the symptoms of epilepsy and other patients with seizures to protect them against brain damage. 

Battlefield Analgesia

Ketamine is also the drug of choice in times of shortage of supply for oxygen and monitoring as well as a low supply of disposable equipment. Such situations mainly arise when a soldier suffers from  battlefield wounds and supplies are limited. In times as such Ketamine’s analgesic properties are of importance to the patients in need. 

Dosage

The dosage of the drug varies like any other prescription medicine according to the weight, height and health of the patient. Factors such as other medicines being taken alongside ketamine as well as the patient’s tolerance to the drug also affect the dosage. 

Side Effects

As with the use of any medication for a long period of time, Ketamine also has a few side effects linked with the long term use. E.g. depression from withdrawal, headaches, poor sense of smell, poor memory, abdominal pain and dependency on Ketamine. However, if a patient follows the prescription of a doctor for the correct dosage according to their weight and height, these side effects can be avoided. 

The Future of Ketamine

Ketamine is a promising drug because of its ability to act fast in relieving the symptoms as well as the effect to last for multiple days compared to other medications and antidepressants which can take weeks to show any improvements. Research is currently ongoing to maximize the benefits that can be derived from the use of this powerful drug while avoiding the side effects that accompany the usage of this drug.