News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissolution with psilocybin. Parent comment

Re:Alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissol... by pas on Thursday May 28, 2020 @12:52PM (#23339523)
Off-label use is great, doctors love it, but ... trials don't show much.

" [...] esketamine’s results are at least as bad as any SSRI’s. If you look at Table 9 in the FDA report, ketamine did notably worse than most of the other antidepressants the FDA has approved recently – including vortioxetine, an SSRI-like medication."

https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/03/11/ketamine-now-by-prescr...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissol... by naasking on Thursday May 28, 2020 @04:51PM (#23342416)
See later on in the article:

> Another possibility is that everyone made a huge mistake in using left-handed ketamine, and it’s right-handed ketamine that holds the magic. Most previous research was done on a racemic mixture (an equal mix of left-handed and right-handed molecules), and at least one study suggests it was the right-handed ketamine that was driving the results. Pharma decided to pursue left-handed ketamine because it was known to have a stronger effect on NMDA receptors, but – surprise! – ketamine probably doesn’t work through NMDA after all.

Case isn't closed yet.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissol... by charlieflowers on Thursday May 28, 2020 @05:34PM (#23342971)
Hah! Serves them right.

I think pharma pursued left-handed ketamine because they could patent it and charge a king's ransom for it, whereas your dog's vet has a bottle of right-handed ketamine for $5.

[ Parent | on HN ]