Ketamine Infusions: How Can They Help People Quit Drinking Alcohol?

A new study recently revealed that people experiencing severe alcohol problems who received ketamine infusions and psychological therapy quit drinking alcoholic beverages for longer than those given standard alcoholism treatment.

As indicated in the ScienceAlert report, an infusion of the commonly used anesthetic ketamine could signify "new hope" in treating millions of people who have alcoholic problems.

The danger of deterioration in the group given ketamine-plus-therapy at six months was more than twice less in those given a placebo plus alcohol cessation education, scientists at the University of Exeter and Awakn Life Sciences, American biotech explained in a recently issued media release.

Essentially, ketamine is commonly used for pain relief, not to mention putting an individual taking it to sleep while undergoing surgical operations. Since the mid-1980s, the World Health Organization has labeled the drug an "essential medicine."

Ketamine Infusions

Ketamine for reducing Alcohol Relapse or KARE trials lead Celia Morgan, said of the research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. They have had no new treatments for alcoholism in the last five decades.

She added that controlled, low ketamine doses combined with treatment could provide new hope for alcoholic people and save lives.

Ketamine can cause dissociation, hallucinations, and changes in perception, a reason it has the probability to treat mental health problems characterized by rigid behavior like addiction, for one.

In an Insider report, Morgan, a psychopharmacology professor at the University of Exeter, said the method was a radical switch from usual addiction treatment services, specifically using the drug as a "catalyst for psychological therapy."

Effects in 6 Months

Morgan, also head of ketamine-assisted therapy for addiction at Awakn Life Sciences, said participants got three infusions over three weeks with a final therapy or education session on the fourth week.

She also said it is promising that impacts were seen six months following a relatively short period of treatment.

She added, they hope United Kingdom the drug should be something that is more commonly available "within three to five years."

Morgan continued the team was getting ready for it to be released as a treatment in countries like the United States.

A Treatment Not for All

She warned that the treatment would not work for all people, and others may require top-up sessions. While impacts are long-lasting in some people, it is not likely to be a "once and done" therapy for everyone.

Morgan elaborated that there is a need for them to explore how booster sessions may be provided in the future.

Additionally, experts have also cautioned that a more extensive study will need to be carried out to understand better the potential benefits of using ketamine for treating alcoholism.

The director of the center for effective orders at King's College London, Allan Young, who was not part of the study, said there was a great necessity for new treatments for alcoholism.

Related information about ketamine as a treatment for alcoholism is shown on FSU COM's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Alcoholism in Science Times.