Ketamine for Treatment Resistant Mood Disorders and Neuroplasticity Daniel Blitch Dr. David Paltin PSY678 National University Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Mood Disorders Mood disorders, specifically depression, are the most common mental health problem facing the world today. Disorders have an objective scale to be scored under and classified, yet the physical manifestation within different patients are unique. Sometimes, however, the profound intricacies of a particular mood disorder cannot be treated in the same way that other typical prognoses through route of medication or dynamic therapy techniques. In the last decade, implementation of controlled dosages of ketamine under clinical supervision have yielded positive results supporting …show more content…
As with other drugs with sedative effects, in the coming decades it became a substance of abuse up to the 1980’s within dance and club culture around the world, and was officially classified as a Schedule I in early 2000. Since its restriction, clinical studies have been pioneered to determine psychiatric utility for mood disorders. Studies have shown that pure ketamine holds properties that control glutamate function in the brain. Ketamine responds to the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor of the brain which controls functions of glutamate in the brain as an antagonist. (“History of Ketamine”, …show more content…
Some side effects of ketamine include slowed breathing, delusions, fainting, nervousness or fatigue. Given its classification, there is speculation that there could be more serious side effects that have not yet been exhibited in controlled studies. Because of this, trials against a placebo are easily quashed as subjects would be able to tell if they are receiving refined ketamine medication over a sugar pill. Individuals with a history of substance abuse may not be a fit candidate for ketamine treatment considering its opiate classification and, therefore, likelihood of dependency and abuse. (Ketamine…
Structural Features Acetaminophen is a molecule that is made of twenty atoms; its bonds consist of fourteen single bonds and four double bonds. Acetaminophen is also composed of clusters atoms with groups with names. First of all, part of an acetaminophen atom is a benzene ring. A benzene ring is a ring of six carbon atoms that are connected to each other by three double bonds and three single bonds and unusually all the bond are the same size. In addition, to make sure all the electrons in the outer valence are used the there are hydrogen atoms bonded to stabilize the carbon atoms.
The number of ER visits due to oxycodone pills, including Percocet, increased by over one fifty percent between 2004 and 2008. It is also estimated that about ten percent of the patients who are currently prescribed with Percocet for pain relief will continue to stick on to the drug leading to its addiction and abuse. Another unsettling fact about the Percocet abuse is that the adolescents use Percocet for recreational purposes and end up getting addicted to the drug over time. Even if they try to quit they will experience obsessive and compulsive thoughts about the drug.
Methadone Maintenance Treatment The Methadone Maintenance Treatment (Camh) helps patients overcome an addiction of opioid dependence. The treatment uses methadone as a replacement for the opioid. Methadone is a narcotic drug that helps suppress opioid withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings for opioids, not induce intoxication (e.g., sedation or euphoria) and reduce the euphoric effects of other opioids, such as heroin (Camh). MMT is beneficial to the patient in many reasons.
The video “Ride the Tiger: A guide through the Bipolar Brain” introduced and explored new insights in brain science that are being used to create new and more effective treatments for Bipolar and depression. It is important to understand about how the biological components of these disorders affect our patents and how effective medication can be. I can use this information to guide clinical decisions when working with clients who suffer from Bipolar or Depression. Initially, this video gave me a greater understanding about how much biology affects these disorders and the importance of incorporating referrals to a psychiatrist is in our work. Using medication to address these disorders can be a life and death issue because of the prevalence of suicide risk associated with them.
CMN 556 Unit Three Journal Unit three was quite challenging and very rewarding. So many of the patients I encountered during this unit (actually unit two because I have not had any clinical so far in unit three) have had ongoing struggles with addiction, specifically to benzodiazepines. I made it one of my goals for this unit to learn more about the proper use of benzodiazepines, and to discuss with my preceptor the many options for alternative medications and the treatment of anxiety. Benzodiazepines are not prescribed as widely as they once were, not just because of the addictive nature of this medication class, but because there is new evidence-based research that shows that there is a high risk for developing early-onset dementia with prolonged use. In the past, patients with diagnoses such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Panic Disorder were given this medication in order to reduce anxiety symptoms.
Since opioids are also known to affect seizure activity as well, opioids are looked in how they can be modulated in order to decrease seizure activity. Within the dentate gyrus (DG), there are two opioid peptides, enkephalins and dynorphins, which both have effects on excitability, but with contrasting effects (11). The difference between these two peptides is that enkephalins bind to delta- and mu- opioid receptors (DORs and MORs) whereas dynorphins bind to kappa-opioid receptors (KORs). However, unlike galanin receptors, opioid receptors can be activated by exogenous opiate drugs, which means that overdose can be possible because it is not reliant on an endogenous ligand. For example, the MOR agonist morphine can bind which means that a ligand can be introduced and not well regulated by the body, leading to overdose (11).
What is Krokodil? Desomorphine, most commonly known as “Krokodil” or “moonshine heroin”, originated in the United States in 1932 as a pain reliever for patients who just had surgery. In 1936, the United States labeled desomorphine a Schedule 1 controlled substance because of its extremely addictive qualities. Desomorphine is more affective at relieving pain than morphine and is also known to have a more intense high than heroin. This dangerous drug has resurfaced and is now being made in homes using store bought ingredients making Krokodil a very deadly drug.
A long time ago, people used drugs to medicine, the name of medicines are Coca wine , paregoric, soothing syrup, heroin, piso's. However, drugs turn to our enemy today. Many teenagers start drugs for fun, even though they did not know anything about it. Therefore, we have to be a good listener and teach about it to prevent ruined their life. Ketamine is a prescription anesthetic that is federally regulated but people are using ketamine to the drug.
Depression is a serious mental illness that most adolescents struggle with, through their teenage years of life. Suicides rates are increasing as the years go by, especially in teens and adolescents. There are several controversial treatments and antidepressants for depression and they seem to work with teens, but not all. Allowing a teen to have an antidepressant should not be aloud because studies have shown that most teens and adolescents does not benefit them with their brain. In today’s society, doctors give teen a antidepressants and send them on their way.
Psychobiology has aided in our comprehension of the nervous system, the division of its two main subsystems and in its communication with the rest of the body. For example, we now know about neurotransmitters; these are chemicals which are used to communicate information throughout the body by relaying signals between neurons. Knowing this brought to light that some drugs such as alcohol are connected to the reticence or activity of a neurotransmitter; once alcohol is consumed, some people encounter a sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety which may be due to the increased quantities of GABA and levels of dopamine which create these enjoyable experiences (Rosenzweig, Breedlove & Leiman 2002). Furthermore, research shows that an excess of neurotransmitter dopamine is connected to Schizophrenia, which allows us to use antipsychotic drugs to block the dopamine receptors in order to reduce the
Rebecca Branchman is in the field of psychopharmacology, and works on developing stress resilience medication. In 2017 she gave a speech about a new groundbreaking drug that could help not only suppress symptoms, but prevent depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. In the TED talk Rebecca Branchman confidently speaks about a groundbreaking pharmaceutical discovery for mental health with a very obvious passion. Rebecca Branchman opens her speech with a shocking fact of how antidepressants were first made. Learning that leftover rocket fuel from World War Two was used to make antidepressants was sure to capture the audience's attention, especially due to the fact that it is estimated that 280 million people worldwide experience depression.
Born on April 13, 1961 Robert William Fisher was born to a single mother in Brooklyn, New York. The struggles of a single parent caused Robert to experience a troubled childhood, which trickled over to his adulthood. Trying develop a better life for his family, he became a surgical technician, which paid for his schooling to become a respiratory therapist. Even with the support of his wife, life became difficult due to substance abuse. The drug of choice was crack cocaine, classified as a tertiary amine, which has three carbon atoms bonded directly to the nitrogen atom and general formula is R3N (Johll pg.
The lack of knowledge concerning the effects Adderall has on one’s health and the misuse of the drug has led many students to believe that there are no negative side effects of the drug. The negative effects of Adderall on the human body outweigh the positive effects that are better known by college students. Ninety-five percent of the articles in media reports “mentioned at least one possible benefit of using prescription drugs for neuro-enhancement, but only fifty-eight percent mentioned any risks or side effects” (Lakhan). Since the negative effects of Adderall are not talked about much by the media not many college students are aware of what they are taking and what could happen. Negative side effects of Adderall and drugs similar to it
The amount of any substance ingested will correspond with the effect it will have on the body. Nonetheless, some psychedelic drugs have more intense effects than others. For example, dextromethorphan (DXM) is a synthetic drug that is found in common over-the-counter drugs that can be safe and effective when used properly. If used improperly however, it can cause muscle spasms, blurred vision, increased heart rate, slurred speech, and anxiety. Despite this, DXM users continue to abuse the drug in the hopes of feeling a sense of euphoria and visual hallucinations.
The leading authors of this article, Dr. Jerome Sarris and Dr. Andrew Scholey are experts in their respective fields having, collectively, over 200 published scholarly journal articles. The main purpose of this experiment was to test neurocognitive, anxiolytic, and thymoleptic effects of a medicinal dose of kava compared to a benzodiazepine such as oxazepam. In this experiment, 22 adults that were diagnosed “moderately anxious” and ranged between ages 18-65 were randomly chosen to receive either an acute dose of kava, oxazepam, or placebo in 1-week intervals in a crossover design trial. The results revealed that in terms of reduction in anxiety, those who took oxazepam experienced a significant reduction in anxiety and also experienced a certain level of calmness, those who took the acute dose of kava experienced no change in anxiety level, and finally those who took the placebo actually experienced heightened levels of anxiety. In terms of cognitive functionality, those who took oxazepam experienced a reduction in alertness whereas those who took the acute dose of kava experienced no such thing.