by tyler | Jan 1, 2024 | CNN, health
There are lots of great reasons to decide to go “dry” in January and give up alcohol. Perhaps you imbibed a bit too much over the holidays or want to start a healthy routine and can’t afford the calories or the zap in energy and motivation that drinking can bring.
“Or it may be someone who truly is starting to wonder or question their relationship with alcohol, and this is an opportunity to really explore that,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“For some people saying, ‘I’m not going to drink this entire month,’ might be really hard, so trying to do so may show you how easy or difficult it is for you,” said neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez, who conducts classes at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
What is the advice from experts on how to have a successful “dry January”? Read on.
It helps to be clear about your goal to make it a habit, said Wakeman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“The research we have on goal setting says goals are more likely to be achieved if they’re really relevant to you as an individual and not abstract like ‘I should stop drinking because drinking is bad,’ ” she said.
Concrete goals such as embracing new sleep habits or an exercise routine will help make giving up drinking easier, she said.
“I really want to stop drinking because I know when I drink heavily I don’t get up the next morning and I don’t work out is a very specific goal,” Wakeman said.
Additional motivation can come from the health gains you can make from reducing or eliminating alcohol, experts say.
“Drinking less over time can have really measurable benefits in your health in terms of your blood pressure, your risk of cancer, your risk of liver disease and other conditions,” Wakeman said.
“Over the course of a month, you may notice some short-term benefits like better sleep, a better complexion due to improvements in your skin, feeling more clearheaded and having more energy,” she added.
READ MORE: Why my ‘Sober October’ lasted a year
Many of us may be familiar with SMART goals from work or school settings. They are used to help people set attainable goals. The acronym stands for:
“If you set a bar too high, you may fail, so it’s better to set smaller goals to achieve it,” Hafeez said. “Nothing starts without an honest conversation with yourself.”
Informing a few friends or family members of your goal can help you reach it, experts say. For some people it may work to announce their plan on social media — and invite others to join in and report back on their progress.
“That’s where I think ‘dry January’ has kind of caught on,” Wakeman said. “If you publicly state you’re going to do something, you’re more likely to stick with it than if you keep it to yourself.”
READ MORE: How much you drink could have an influence on how your teen drinks
Drinking is often associated with social gatherings or fun times. That can train your brain to see alcohol as a positive. You can combat those urges by replacing your drink of choice with something equally festive or flavorful, experts say.
“For some people it can be just sparkling water, and for other people it’s actually having a mocktail or some sort of (nonalcoholic) drink that feels fun and celebratory,” Wakeman said.
“Substituting one behavior for another can work because you’re tricking your brain,” Hafeez said. “That can absolutely help you avoid temptation.”
An entire industry is devoted to making nonalcoholic drinks that taste (at least a bit) like the real thing. Some even claim to have added ingredients that are “calming” or “healthy.”
“I’m skeptical of anything that claims to relax you or have amazing health benefits that comes in a glass regardless of what it is,” Wakeman said. “But if it’s an alternative that allows you to feel like you’re not missing out on a social situation and helps you make the changes that you want to your alcohol consumption, I don’t think there’s any downside to that.”
READ MORE: How to stop using alcohol as a confidence crutch
5. Track your progress, goal and feelings
Even if you don’t end up cutting out all alcohol, tracking your emotions and urges to discover your triggers can be helpful, Wakeman said.
“Even just measuring your behavior, whether it’s alcohol or exercise or your diet, can be an intervention in and of itself,” she said.
“Even if someone’s not yet ready to make changes, just keeping a diary of when you’re drinking, what situations you’re drinking more and how you’re feeling at those times, can really help you identify sort of trigger situations where you may be more likely to drink,” Wakeman added.
There’s an additional piece that’s important in accomplishing a “dry January,” experts say. It’s important to notice if you — or a loved one — are showing any negative symptoms from cutting back or eliminating alcohol. It could be a sign that you need professional help to reach your goal.
“The first thing to be mindful of is whether or not you actually have an alcohol use disorder,” Wakeman said. “If someone’s been drinking very heavily ev
ery single day and is at risk for withdrawal symptoms, then it can actually be dangerous to stop abruptly.”
A person with an alcohol use disorder, who has gotten used to having a certain level of alcohol in their body every day, can go into withdrawal and experience severe physical symptoms such as shakiness, sweating, rapid heart rate and seizures.
“That would be a real indication that you need to talk to a medical professional about getting medical treatment for withdrawal and not stopping on your own,” Wakeman said.
by tyler | Jan 1, 2024 | CNN, health
Here’s a look at mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in the United States. In 2022, an outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus originated in Africa and is the cousin of the smallpox virus.
In November 2022, WHO renames the monkeypox virus as mpox after working with International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) to rename the the virus using non-stigmatizing, non-offensive social and cultural nomenclature.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Mpox is a poxvirus. It generally causes pimple- or blister-like lesions and flu-like symptoms such as fever. The disease is rarely fatal.
Mpox spreads through close contact. This includes direct physical contact with lesions as well as “respiratory secretions” shared through face-to-face interaction and touching objects that have been contaminated by mpox lesions or fluids. The virus may also pass to a fetus through the placenta.
Anyone can become ill from mpox, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that more than 99% of mpox cases in the United States in the 2022 outbreak have been among men who have sex with men. However, mpox is not generally considered a sexually transmitted disease.
Mpox is usually found in West and Central Africa, but additional cases have been seen in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world in recent years. Those cases are typically linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the poxvirus.
CDC Mpox Map and Case Count
WHO Situation Reports
Timeline and 2022 Outbreak
1958 – Mpox is discovered when monkeys kept for research cause two outbreaks in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1970 – The first human case is recorded in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).
2003 – An outbreak in the United States is linked to infected pet prairie dogs imported from Ghana and results in more than 80 cases.
July 16, 2021 – The CDC and local health officials in Dallas announce they are investigating a case of mpox in a traveler from Nigeria. “The individual is a City of Dallas resident who traveled from Nigeria to Dallas, arriving at Love Field airport on July 9, 2021. The person is hospitalized in Dallas and is in stable condition,” the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services says in a statement.
May 17, 2022 – The first confirmed US case of mpox in the 2022 outbreak is reported to the CDC in a traveler who returned to Massachusetts from Canada.
May 19, 2022 – WHO reports that death rates of the outbreak have been between 3% and 6%.
May 23, 2022 – The CDC announces the release of mpox vaccine doses from the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile for “high-risk people.” In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent mpox.
May 26, 2022 – CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announces that the United States is distributing the vaccine to states with reported cases and recommends vaccination for people at highest risk of infection due to direct contact with someone who has mpox.
June 22, 2022 – The CDC announces a partnership with five commercial laboratories to ramp up testing capacity in the United States.
June 23, 2022 – New York City launches the first mpox vaccination clinic in the United States.
June 28, 2022 – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden administration announce an enhanced vaccination strategy and report that more than 9,000 doses of vaccine have been distributed to date.
July 22, 2022 – Two American children contract mpox – a first in the United States. According to the CDC, the two cases are unrelated.
July 23, 2022 – WHO declares mpox a public health emergency of international concern, “an extraordinary event that may constitute a public health risk to other countries through international spread of disease and may require an international coordinated response.”
July 27, 2022 – After weeks of mpox vaccines being in limited supply, more than 786,000 additional doses are made available in the United States, according to HHS.
July 29, 2022 – New York declares a state disaster emergency in response to the mpox outbreak.
August 1, 2022 – California and Illinois declare states of emergency. California has reported more than 800 cases, while Illinois has had more than 500, according to data from the CDC.
August 2, 2022 – An mpox response team is created by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden names Robert Fenton from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the White House national mpox response coordinator.
August 2, 2022 – A report from Spain’s National Institute for Microbiology indicates two men, ages 31 and 44, who died from mpox in unrelated cases had both developed encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, which can be triggered by viral infections. Encephalitis is a very rare condition known to be associated with mpox. It has been reported in people with mpox in West Africa and in a patient in the United States in 2003 during the small outbreak linked to imported prairie dogs.
August 4, 2022 – The Biden administration declares the mpox outbreak a national public health emergency.
August 5, 2022 – A report published by the CDC finds that 94% of cases were among men who had recent sexual or close intimate contact with another man. Further, 54% of cases were among Black Americans and Latinos.
August 9, 2022 – In an effort to stretch the limited supply of the Jynneos mpox vaccine, federal health officials authorize administering smaller doses using a different method of injection. The new injection strategy allows health-care providers to give shallow injections intradermally, in between layers of the skin, with one-fifth the standard dose size instead of subcutaneously, into the fatty layer below the skin, with the larger dose.
August 18, 2022 – The White House announces the acceleration of the HHS vaccine distribution timeline, with an additional 1.8 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine being made available. Additional vaccines will be distributed to communities hosting large LGBTQI+ events.
August 19, 2022 – Washington’s King County, which includes Seattle, declares mpox a public health emergency, with more than 270 recorded cases.
September 12, 2022 – The first US death due to mpox is confirmed in Los Angeles County, California.
May 11, 2023 – WHO declares the mpox outbreak is no longer a global health emergency.
October 26, 2023 – CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, votes unanimously to recommend that certain individuals ages 18 and older who are at high risk for getting mpox continue to get the vaccine as a routine part of their sexual health care.
by tyler | Dec 29, 2023 | CNN, health
There are lots of great reasons to decide to go “dry” in January and give up alcohol. Perhaps you imbibed a bit too much over the holidays or want to start a healthy routine and can’t afford the calories or the zap in energy and motivation that drinking can bring.
“Or it may be someone who truly is starting to wonder or question their relationship with alcohol, and this is an opportunity to really explore that,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“For some people saying, ‘I’m not going to drink this entire month,’ might be really hard, so trying to do so may show you how easy or difficult it is for you,” said neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez, who conducts classes at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
What is the advice from experts on how to have a successful “dry January”? Read on.
It helps to be clear about your goal to make it a habit, said Wakeman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“The research we have on goal setting says goals are more likely to be achieved if they’re really relevant to you as an individual and not abstract like ‘I should stop drinking because drinking is bad,’ ” she said.
Concrete goals such as embracing new sleep habits or an exercise routine will help make giving up drinking easier, she said.
“I really want to stop drinking because I know when I drink heavily I don’t get up the next morning and I don’t work out is a very specific goal,” Wakeman said.
Additional motivation can come from the health gains you can make from reducing or eliminating alcohol, experts say.
“Drinking less over time can have really measurable benefits in your health in terms of your blood pressure, your risk of cancer, your risk of liver disease and other conditions,” Wakeman said.
“Over the course of a month, you may notice some short-term benefits like better sleep, a better complexion due to improvements in your skin, feeling more clearheaded and having more energy,” she added.
READ MORE: Why my ‘Sober October’ lasted a year
Many of us may be familiar with SMART goals from work or school settings. They are used to help people set attainable goals. The acronym stands for:
“If you set a bar too high, you may fail, so it’s better to set smaller goals to achieve it,” Hafeez said. “Nothing starts without an honest conversation with yourself.”
Informing a few friends or family members of your goal can help you reach it, experts say. For some people it may work to announce their plan on social media — and invite others to join in and report back on their progress.
“That’s where I think ‘dry January’ has kind of caught on,” Wakeman said. “If you publicly state you’re going to do something, you’re more likely to stick with it than if you keep it to yourself.”
READ MORE: How much you drink could have an influence on how your teen drinks
Drinking is often associated with social gatherings or fun times. That can train your brain to see alcohol as a positive. You can combat those urges by replacing your drink of choice with something equally festive or flavorful, experts say.
“For some people it can be just sparkling water, and for other people it’s actually having a mocktail or some sort of (nonalcoholic) drink that feels fun and celebratory,” Wakeman said.
“Substituting one behavior for another can work because you’re tricking your brain,” Hafeez said. “That can absolutely help you avoid temptation.”
An entire industry is devoted to making nonalcoholic drinks that taste (at least a bit) like the real thing. Some even claim to have added ingredients that are “calming” or “healthy.”
“I’m skeptical of anything that claims to relax you or have amazing health benefits that comes in a glass regardless of what it is,” Wakeman said. “But if it’s an alternative that allows you to feel like you’re not missing out on a social situation and helps you make the changes that you want to your alcohol consumption, I don’t think there’s any downside to that.”
READ MORE: How to stop using alcohol as a confidence crutch
5. Track your progress, goal and feelings
Even if you don’t end up cutting out all alcohol, tracking your emotions and urges to discover your triggers can be helpful, Wakeman said.
“Even just measuring your behavior, whether it’s alcohol or exercise or your diet, can be an intervention in and of itself,” she said.
“Even if someone’s not yet ready to make changes, just keeping a diary of when you’re drinking, what situations you’re drinking more and how you’re feeling at those times, can really help you identify sort of trigger situations where you may be more likely to drink,” Wakeman added.
There’s an additional piece that’s important in accomplishing a “dry January,” experts say. It’s important to notice if you — or a loved one — are showing any negative symptoms from cutting back or eliminating alcohol. It could be a sign that you need professional help to reach your goal.
“The first thing to be mindful of is whether or not you actually have an alcohol use disorder,” Wakeman said. “If someone’s been drinking very heavily ev
ery single day and is at risk for withdrawal symptoms, then it can actually be dangerous to stop abruptly.”
A person with an alcohol use disorder, who has gotten used to having a certain level of alcohol in their body every day, can go into withdrawal and experience severe physical symptoms such as shakiness, sweating, rapid heart rate and seizures.
“That would be a real indication that you need to talk to a medical professional about getting medical treatment for withdrawal and not stopping on your own,” Wakeman said.
by tyler | Dec 29, 2023 | CNN, health
Here’s a look at mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in the United States. In 2022, an outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus originated in Africa and is the cousin of the smallpox virus.
In November 2022, WHO renames the monkeypox virus as mpox after working with International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) to rename the the virus using non-stigmatizing, non-offensive social and cultural nomenclature.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Mpox is a poxvirus. It generally causes pimple- or blister-like lesions and flu-like symptoms such as fever. The disease is rarely fatal.
Mpox spreads through close contact. This includes direct physical contact with lesions as well as “respiratory secretions” shared through face-to-face interaction and touching objects that have been contaminated by mpox lesions or fluids. The virus may also pass to a fetus through the placenta.
Anyone can become ill from mpox, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that more than 99% of mpox cases in the United States in the 2022 outbreak have been among men who have sex with men. However, mpox is not generally considered a sexually transmitted disease.
Mpox is usually found in West and Central Africa, but additional cases have been seen in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world in recent years. Those cases are typically linked to international travel or imported animals infected with the poxvirus.
CDC Mpox Map and Case Count
WHO Situation Reports
Timeline and 2022 Outbreak
1958 – Mpox is discovered when monkeys kept for research cause two outbreaks in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1970 – The first human case is recorded in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).
2003 – An outbreak in the United States is linked to infected pet prairie dogs imported from Ghana and results in more than 80 cases.
July 16, 2021 – The CDC and local health officials in Dallas announce they are investigating a case of mpox in a traveler from Nigeria. “The individual is a City of Dallas resident who traveled from Nigeria to Dallas, arriving at Love Field airport on July 9, 2021. The person is hospitalized in Dallas and is in stable condition,” the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services says in a statement.
May 17, 2022 – The first confirmed US case of mpox in the 2022 outbreak is reported to the CDC in a traveler who returned to Massachusetts from Canada.
May 19, 2022 – WHO reports that death rates of the outbreak have been between 3% and 6%.
May 23, 2022 – The CDC announces the release of mpox vaccine doses from the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile for “high-risk people.” In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent mpox.
May 26, 2022 – CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announces that the United States is distributing the vaccine to states with reported cases and recommends vaccination for people at highest risk of infection due to direct contact with someone who has mpox.
June 22, 2022 – The CDC announces a partnership with five commercial laboratories to ramp up testing capacity in the United States.
June 23, 2022 – New York City launches the first mpox vaccination clinic in the United States.
June 28, 2022 – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden administration announce an enhanced vaccination strategy and report that more than 9,000 doses of vaccine have been distributed to date.
July 22, 2022 – Two American children contract mpox – a first in the United States. According to the CDC, the two cases are unrelated.
July 23, 2022 – WHO declares mpox a public health emergency of international concern, “an extraordinary event that may constitute a public health risk to other countries through international spread of disease and may require an international coordinated response.”
July 27, 2022 – After weeks of mpox vaccines being in limited supply, more than 786,000 additional doses are made available in the United States, according to HHS.
July 29, 2022 – New York declares a state disaster emergency in response to the mpox outbreak.
August 1, 2022 – California and Illinois declare states of emergency. California has reported more than 800 cases, while Illinois has had more than 500, according to data from the CDC.
August 2, 2022 – An mpox response team is created by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden names Robert Fenton from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the White House national mpox response coordinator.
August 2, 2022 – A report from Spain’s National Institute for Microbiology indicates two men, ages 31 and 44, who died from mpox in unrelated cases had both developed encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, which can be triggered by viral infections. Encephalitis is a very rare condition known to be associated with mpox. It has been reported in people with mpox in West Africa and in a patient in the United States in 2003 during the small outbreak linked to imported prairie dogs.
August 4, 2022 – The Biden administration declares the mpox outbreak a national public health emergency.
August 5, 2022 – A report published by the CDC finds that 94% of cases were among men who had recent sexual or close intimate contact with another man. Further, 54% of cases were among Black Americans and Latinos.
August 9, 2022 – In an effort to stretch the limited supply of the Jynneos mpox vaccine, federal health officials authorize administering smaller doses using a different method of injection. The new injection strategy allows health-care providers to give shallow injections intradermally, in between layers of the skin, with one-fifth the standard dose size instead of subcutaneously, into the fatty layer below the skin, with the larger dose.
August 18, 2022 – The White House announces the acceleration of the HHS vaccine distribution timeline, with an additional 1.8 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine being made available. Additional vaccines will be distributed to communities hosting large LGBTQI+ events.
August 19, 2022 – Washington’s King County, which includes Seattle, declares mpox a public health emergency, with more than 270 recorded cases.
September 12, 2022 – The first US death due to mpox is confirmed in Los Angeles County, California.
May 11, 2023 – WHO declares the mpox outbreak is no longer a global health emergency.
October 26, 2023 – CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, votes unanimously to recommend that certain individuals ages 18 and older who are at high risk for getting mpox continue to get the vaccine as a routine part of their sexual health care.
by tyler | Dec 28, 2023 | CNN, health
There are lots of great reasons to decide to go “dry” in January and give up alcohol. Perhaps you imbibed a bit too much over the holidays or want to start a healthy routine and can’t afford the calories or the zap in energy and motivation that drinking can bring.
“Or it may be someone who truly is starting to wonder or question their relationship with alcohol, and this is an opportunity to really explore that,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“For some people saying, ‘I’m not going to drink this entire month,’ might be really hard, so trying to do so may show you how easy or difficult it is for you,” said neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez, who conducts classes at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
What is the advice from experts on how to have a successful “dry January”? Read on.
It helps to be clear about your goal to make it a habit, said Wakeman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“The research we have on goal setting says goals are more likely to be achieved if they’re really relevant to you as an individual and not abstract like ‘I should stop drinking because drinking is bad,’ ” she said.
Concrete goals such as embracing new sleep habits or an exercise routine will help make giving up drinking easier, she said.
“I really want to stop drinking because I know when I drink heavily I don’t get up the next morning and I don’t work out is a very specific goal,” Wakeman said.
Additional motivation can come from the health gains you can make from reducing or eliminating alcohol, experts say.
“Drinking less over time can have really measurable benefits in your health in terms of your blood pressure, your risk of cancer, your risk of liver disease and other conditions,” Wakeman said.
“Over the course of a month, you may notice some short-term benefits like better sleep, a better complexion due to improvements in your skin, feeling more clearheaded and having more energy,” she added.
READ MORE: Why my ‘Sober October’ lasted a year
Many of us may be familiar with SMART goals from work or school settings. They are used to help people set attainable goals. The acronym stands for:
“If you set a bar too high, you may fail, so it’s better to set smaller goals to achieve it,” Hafeez said. “Nothing starts without an honest conversation with yourself.”
Informing a few friends or family members of your goal can help you reach it, experts say. For some people it may work to announce their plan on social media — and invite others to join in and report back on their progress.
“That’s where I think ‘dry January’ has kind of caught on,” Wakeman said. “If you publicly state you’re going to do something, you’re more likely to stick with it than if you keep it to yourself.”
READ MORE: How much you drink could have an influence on how your teen drinks
Drinking is often associated with social gatherings or fun times. That can train your brain to see alcohol as a positive. You can combat those urges by replacing your drink of choice with something equally festive or flavorful, experts say.
“For some people it can be just sparkling water, and for other people it’s actually having a mocktail or some sort of (nonalcoholic) drink that feels fun and celebratory,” Wakeman said.
“Substituting one behavior for another can work because you’re tricking your brain,” Hafeez said. “That can absolutely help you avoid temptation.”
An entire industry is devoted to making nonalcoholic drinks that taste (at least a bit) like the real thing. Some even claim to have added ingredients that are “calming” or “healthy.”
“I’m skeptical of anything that claims to relax you or have amazing health benefits that comes in a glass regardless of what it is,” Wakeman said. “But if it’s an alternative that allows you to feel like you’re not missing out on a social situation and helps you make the changes that you want to your alcohol consumption, I don’t think there’s any downside to that.”
READ MORE: How to stop using alcohol as a confidence crutch
5. Track your progress, goal and feelings
Even if you don’t end up cutting out all alcohol, tracking your emotions and urges to discover your triggers can be helpful, Wakeman said.
“Even just measuring your behavior, whether it’s alcohol or exercise or your diet, can be an intervention in and of itself,” she said.
“Even if someone’s not yet ready to make changes, just keeping a diary of when you’re drinking, what situations you’re drinking more and how you’re feeling at those times, can really help you identify sort of trigger situations where you may be more likely to drink,” Wakeman added.
There’s an additional piece that’s important in accomplishing a “dry January,” experts say. It’s important to notice if you — or a loved one — are showing any negative symptoms from cutting back or eliminating alcohol. It could be a sign that you need professional help to reach your goal.
“The first thing to be mindful of is whether or not you actually have an alcohol use disorder,” Wakeman said. “If someone’s been drinking very heavily ev
ery single day and is at risk for withdrawal symptoms, then it can actually be dangerous to stop abruptly.”
A person with an alcohol use disorder, who has gotten used to having a certain level of alcohol in their body every day, can go into withdrawal and experience severe physical symptoms such as shakiness, sweating, rapid heart rate and seizures.
“That would be a real indication that you need to talk to a medical professional about getting medical treatment for withdrawal and not stopping on your own,” Wakeman said.
by tyler | Dec 18, 2023 | CNN, health
People who got intravenous ketamine at three private ketamine infusion clinics had “significant improvement” in symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, a study says.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, adds to a growing body of research showing ketamine’s promise in treating these conditions.
It “gives some more real-world data, which is incredibly important” because it helps show its potential to work in a more general population, said Dr. Gerard Sanacora, a psychiatry professor at the Yale School of Medicine.
But the study leaves some critical gaps, including data on adverse effects and direct comparisons to other options, that make it difficult to conclude how it should be used, he said.
Ketamine is a powerful medication used in hospitals primarily as an anesthetic. It’s also used illegally as a club drug that creates an intense high and dissociative effects. Because it’s not approved to treat depression and thus is used for that purpose “off-label,” it is not covered by insurance, even when it’s recommended by a doctor.
The researchers looked at data on 424 people with treatment-resistant depression who were treated between November 2017 and May 2021 at three ketamine infusion clinics in Virginia that specialize in people with suicidal ideation, depression or anxiety. During each visit to the clinic, the patients filled out physical and mental health surveys. The patients were given six infusions within 21 days.
Within six weeks of beginning infusions, the researchers say, half of the participants responded to the treatment, and 20% had depressive symptoms in remission. After 10 infusions, response and remission rates were 72% and 38%, respectively.
Half of the patients who had suicidal ideation were in remission after six weeks, and there was a 30% reduction in anxiety symptoms over the course of treatment, according to the study.
Response rates in the initial phase of treatment were similar to those of oral medication and transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression, the researchers say. Remission rates were on par with transcranial stimulation but weren’t quite as helpful as optimized trials of electroconvulsive therapy, both of which can be more expensive and carry added risk.
Limitations of the research include that it was not a blind study with a control group. It didn’t look at people who declined to have infusions, and it relied on self-reported surveys.
The researchers also note that they didn’t systematically assess side effects or adverse events of the treatment, but previous studies have not found long-term or permanent side effects on memory or cognitive decline.
The lack of information about adverse effects is “disappointing,” Sanacora said. Ketamine comes with a “unique set of risks, both to the individual but also to society,” including the potential for drug abuse and unknown effects of frequent use, especially at higher levels.
But without the adverse effects data – and without comparing outcomes to a control group or otherwise – it’s hard to know how to weigh the benefits against the risks.
“My point is, I think this is an incredibly important treatment to add to our armamentarium to fight severe mood disorders and psychiatric illnesses, but we have to use it responsibly and carefully,” he said.
In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a nasal spray that uses esketamine, a cousin of ketamine, for treatment-resistant depression. The researchers on the new study say that infusions of racemic ketamine (which uses two forms of ketamine molecules, in contrast with esketamine’s single form) are cheaper than esketamine and could result in savings if they were covered by insurance.
